Crimson Retribution
by kokoro62
Summary: Raven and Ibeyla are on the trail of a killer when they meet Atherin, a teen that's hiding something. When the killer turns out to be something from legend and Atherin's secret's revealed can they stop it? Coauthored by ShadowRebirth37 M for future chaps
1. I Share Your Plight

_**Disclaimer 1: **__I do NOT own zoids. I never have and I never will…though I wish I did_

_**Disclaimer 2: **__The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, and Playzia do NOT belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel and Eiji belong to __**ME**__. The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if Redai is used with out my permission, it's just a name I made up on the spur of the moment, but if you use Jurei please make a note of it in your disclaimer._

_**Summary:**_ Raven and Ibeyla are on the trail of a killer, when they meet Atherin, a teen that's hiding something important. When the killer turns out to be something out of a legend and Atherin's secret revealed; will they be able to stop it? Or will they fail and doom the planet to death's embrace?

_**Author's Note:**_ Alright, where to start? I guess explaining why I'm using Ibeyla's characters would be a good place ^^ Okay, this fic started out as an RP that we're doing. Somewhere along the way we decided that this might make for a good fic. So…here it is. As a side note, this fic starts out as **T** but in later chapters' turns to **M**. Also, this fic is mostly centered around the manga, but some of the anime was smushed into it. Just so everyone's clear on this, this fic is collaboration from Ibeyla and me. We hope you enjoy this fic as much as we enjoy writing it. ^^

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҉ I Share Your Plight **҉**

A white, gold accented Blade Liger stopped in a nice big clearing in a forest. The sun was starting to reach its mid day peak, and both he and his pilot were looking forward to a nice long nap. His pilot didn't really like to travel during the day, so if it meant that he could sleep in the middle of the day for a few hours then he was all for it.

Eiji, as the white Blade Liger was called, lowered himself to the ground to let his pilot and partner out. The young boy of sixteen stretched out, having been in Eiji's cockpit since yesterday evening. He was wearing dark grey pants, with the left pant leg having been cut off and hemmed just below his knee, combat boots, twin black leather belts that crossed each other in the front and a long sleeved black mesh shirt and a thin, long, red cloth scarf that was tied around his neck. He was around 5 feet 8 inches, with very bright lavender eyes, short hair that rivaled the color of ebony, had a pale complexion that wouldn't tan no matter how long he was out in the sun, and a red upside down triangle Zi mark under his right eye.

Atherin, as he was called, dug into his bag that was at his side, and pulled out some rock candy and began to suck on it. His...'condition'...demanded that he had a _large_ intake of sweets...daily… Eiji growled, wanting some candy too. Atherin obliged and tossed a piece of rock candy up to Eiji. After Atherin had devoured his candy he settled down in the shade that Eiji's giant head created. A nice nap out of the mid day sun would do him some good.

In another part of the forest a small chocolate brown organoid, named Rollo, wandered around the forest. He was looking for prey, a host, _anything_ he could eat. Rollo stopped and sniffed the air. He could smell...Zoidian…? …Human…? He wasn't sure, but it was food. Rollo honed in on the scent, and found a Zoidian snoozing next to a Zoid in a clearing.

Eiji growled a warning to Atherin. Something was near them, but… it was either too small or it was just his imagination. Atherin paid Eiji no heed. If it wasn't big or didn't have a gun then it wasn't dangerous in his books.

Rollo started to stalk over to the Zoidian, his movements jerky and cautious. He was a skittish and scared Organoid, and he could tell his Zoidian was strong. By the time Rollo had come into the clearing Eiji had decided that it was his imagination after all... Atherin slept on; unaware that someone was sneaking up on him...

Rollo crept over to sleeping Zoidian, eyeing and sniffing him curiously. He was shaking in fear, afraid he would be killed if the Zoidian awoke. Atherin shifted a little, the hard ground not doing much to help his already stiff and sore body. He fell back asleep, not knowing that someone was right behind him. Eiji growled softly in confusion. There was something under his head by his pilot, but it was so small and cute he just couldn't bring himself to squish it.

Rollo edged closer to the sleeping Zoidian, sniffing at his shoulder. He cocked his head and leaned down, nipping and tugging at his shirt over his shoulder. Atherin was undisturbed, the tugging of his shirt nothing more than the breeze. Eiji whined...his pilot wasn't _listening_ to him!!!

Rollo chewed through the mesh fabric, exposing the skin more. He licked him first, making sure he was numb, so he wouldn't wake up. As soon as he was good and numb, he nipped at him, using his small baby fangs to make a small bite. His venom caused the blood to begin to flow, and Rollo immediately began to lap up the blood with his tongue, drinking happily. Atherin felt a little discomfort on his right shoulder, but he shrugged it off as either Eiji trying to get his attention for something dumb again or a really irritating bug.

Rollo continued to feed, lapping up the rich, flowing blood like a vampire bat. His saliva caused the wound to warm and tingle slightly, not at all unpleasant, but not normal. He fed happily, drinking up the blood, making sure to not take enough to hurt his host. Atherin's discomfort increased a little. It wasn't the fact that his shoulder was feeling oddly warm...it was because it felt like his blood was being drained in small increments... It was a blood sucking bug. He swatted it away with a light touch; one didn't need much more than that to get rid of an overly gorged mosquito...

Rollo squeaked as he was suddenly hit, tumbling from his host's shoulder. He landed in a jumbled heap, blood covering his muzzle. Now that he wasn't there to drink, blood dripped down the Zoidian's shoulder, splattering to the ground. Rollo whimpered in fear and curled around himself, trying to hide by covering himself in his wings. He was shaking, whimpering and whining softly, afraid of the Zoidian.

Atherin's eyes flew open when he realized that he was _bleeding_!! He sat up quickly, digging in his bag for more candy to speed up his un-naturally fast healing process. He couldn't afford to lose any blood! There was a high price on his head, and he couldn't chance going into any of the Republican towns he was near, not until the hype settled down and he was all but forgotten. As he popped another candy stick into his mouth he noticed the small, huddling, shaking form of an organoid.

Rollo didn't open his amethyst eyes. He was terrified, expecting to be stabbed or shot or hit. He was shaking and whimpering, trembling in fear and terror. Atherin could feel the small wound on his shoulder seal up. It wasn't as deep as he thought it was. As he continued to eat his candy, Eiji now whining about giving him some too, Atherin studied the chocolate brown organoid in front of him. /…Young...a hatchling looking for a meal...that's all.../ Rollo didn't move aside from his trembling, too afraid to even try and escape. His pale tan wings obscured most of his body, but one glowing, violet eye peered out from beneath them, staring at the Zoidian in fear.

Atherin hadn't noticed Rollo watching him. He was too busy arguing with Eiji, it was like arguing with a two year old, but Eiji eventually won, threatening Atherin that he wouldn't move from this spot at all. Atherin sighed, defeated, before he dug in his bag for another stick of candy and tossed it to Eiji, who rumbled happily. Now that his child of a Zoid had been quieted, Atherin turned his attention back to Rollo, the little organoid trembling in fear of him. Rollo didn't move, too afraid for his life. His body had completely seized up, preventing him from running even if he had wanted to. He whined again, shuddering and trembling in fear.

"...I'm not gonna hurt you... You just took me by surprise is all..." Rollo squeaked in fear, tightening his wings around himself, trying to hide.

"........... You do know I can still see you right?" Atherin asked raising his eyebrow upon seeing the organoid's pitiful attempt at hiding. Rollo cried out in fear, expecting the Zoidian to grab him or kill him.

"...If it helps you to believe me that I'm not gonna hurt you, my name's Atherin...and this is Eiji, my partner." Rollo whimpered softly, but didn't try to escape or further hide himself. He was still completely terrified and panicking.

Atherin sighed. The organoid to fearful of him to do anything more than shake and squeak whenever he spoke. He got up quietly, rock candy still in his mouth, and gently picked the little organoid up, hoping he didn't scare him anymore. Rollo screeched and struggled, thinking the Zoidian was going to throw him or hurt him for feeding on him. "M-me.... me sahwee!!" he squeaked, shaking and whimpering in terror.

"...Sorry for what?" Atherin asked holding the shaking organoid a little closer to him. Rollo squeaked, but started to calm down as the Zoidian held him closer. Contact always calmed him down. "S-sahwee... f-for fe-feeding... off y-yous..."

"...I can't say that I don't mind it, but I'm not mad." Rollo was still shaking, still afraid the Zoidian was going to hurt him for using him as a host.

"...You know my name, could you give me yours?" Atherin asked as he shifted the little organoid into a better position in his arms.

"R-R.... Rollo..." he answered quietly, shifting slightly in the Zoidian's arms.

Atherin sat back down and pulled his bag to him. He needed more candy; now that his wound had been sealed he needed replenish his blood sugar and try to stimulate his body to into making some blood. It didn't always work, but he had to try. After he had another piece of candy in his mouth, now ignoring Eiji as he pined again, Atherin turned to Rollo. "See Rollo? I'm not gonna hurt you."

Rollo continued to shake, still slightly fearful. He had been lied to and betrayed, so he had reasons to be fearful. Atherin caressed Rollo as he gnawed on his candy. He wasn't going to try and sweet talk his way to make the little organoid believe him. He'd just have to see for himself. Rollo slowly stopped shaking, beginning to calm down slightly. He wasn't going to start talking, but he wasn't going to panic.

Atherin was too busy eating to talk. He could feel the sugar just coursing through him. Eiji rumbled something to him. He took the piece of candy out of his mouth to answer him. "No Eiji. You'll just have to wait 'til later…" Rollo pressed himself against Atherin, slightly afraid of the large Zoid.

Atherin noticed Rollo huddling into him as Eiji rumbled. "It's alright Rollo... Eiji's just a giant metal kitten... Trust me; I'm not kidding..." Rollo lifted his head slightly, looking at the Zoid. He didn't speak, but just watched the large Zoid.

Atherin then continued eating his rock candy. He had pixi stix for emergencies, but rock candy was his favorite. He caressed Rollo again, mentally talking with Eiji, which was why Eiji was rumbling, growling and purring so much. Rollo chirped quietly, nosing Atherin's hand as he caressed him, loving the contact.

Atherin chucked quietly, Rollo wanting more contact even though he was afraid of him. Atherin continued to caress him, hoping that the hatchling warmed up to him soon. Rollo chirped and cooed, closing his eyes and leaning into his touch, purring quietly.

"See Rollo? If I wanted to hurt you I wouldn't be going through all this just too get you to warm up to me." Rollo didn't answer, too busy cooing and purring as Atherin stroked and caressed him. Atherin chucked again, Rollo was too busy wanting attention to answer him. "...Say Rollo... Why did you want to feed off me? I know that you had to be hungry, but why?"

Rollo stopped. "I... I w-was... hungee..." he answered shyly.

"...Couldn't you of just...eaten a small animal or something?"

"N-no... me V-Vareix...." Rollo answered quietly.

"...Vareix? What's a Vareix?"

"A-a... v-vampwire... Organoid..."

"A vampire Organoid?" Atherin started to laugh, he couldn't help himself. He just hoped that the little organoid didn't think he was laughing at him. Rollo shrank a little in Atherin's hold, shying away from him. After Atherin had calmed himself, he noticed Rollo being shy again. "I-I'm not l-laughing at you Rollo. I share your plight." Atherin said smiling, showing off his own pair of fangs.

Rollo blinked in surprise. "Y-yous... yous a... v-vampwire?"

"Got that right. As far as I know, I'm the last humanoid vampire."

"Me never hear of a human vampwire..." Rollo said, blinking his eyes.

"That's because of the massive 'hunt' that happened a few hundred centuries ago. Most of the humanoid vampires were killed, the few remaining ones, hid away. About five years ago my hidden village was discovered and destroyed. From what the elders had said our village was the last remaining village to be found. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who survived..."

Rollo cocked his head. "Me the onwy one of me famwee to survive..."

"...But there are more of your species besides you... I'm the last one of mine..."

"No... me species very rare... onwy a few weft...."

"Well, there's no use sitting here feeling sorry for ourselves, it's not gonna help either of us." Atherin said as he stretched out again. This was cutting into his nap time. "I can't decide for you, but when we leave this area do you want to come with us?"

Rollo blinked. "Me have no where else to go... can... me come wit yous?"

"Sure... There's room in Eiji's cockpit for you. You'll have the whole back seat to yourself."

Rollo chirped and nuzzled his hand, snuggling into him and cooing. Atherin caressed him as Rollo snuggled into him. "Oh and Rollo...? If we come across any one, don't let them know what I am... I don't feel like dying anytime soon..."

Rollo nodded. "No wet dem know... what me is, either..." he said, nuzzling and licking him arm as he snuggled into him again.

"It's a promise." Atherin replied continuing to caress Rollo. Rollo cooed as he was stroked, pressing against him and chirping softly.

Atherin once again pulled some candy from his bag. He wanted to be sure that his blood sugar was nice and replenished; otherwise he'd go into some sort of cold sleep...something that he didn't want to happen. Rollo was a little confused. How much candy does he have in that bag and why was he eating so much!? Rollo watched as Atherin ate more candy. He cocked his head in confusion, watching him curiously.

"Hmm? Something wrong?" Atherin asked when he saw Rollo giving him a confused and curious looks.

"Why yous eat... so much candy?"

"...It keeps my blood sugar up. Which is good, 'cause I can't go waltzing into town every time I want blood. It keeps my 'hunger' from taking over me. Sugar also helps me heal faster too...that small wound that you created on my shoulder has already been sealed up."

Rollo cocked his head in interest. "Reawy? Me no know dat..."

"...But...I don't know if it'll work for you too... Our body systems are different... It could have some effect...or it could have none..."

Rollo shook his head. "Me no wan eat nothin' but candy. Me get swick fwom it..."

"That's alright Rollo. I don't blame you for not wanting to eat hardly anything but candy. It's all I really have at the moment though. I lost my food supply in a raid two nights ago... I can't get anything else until we reach Guylos..."

"Can I... has a piece?" Rollo asked shyly.

"Sure. Help yourself." Atherin said opening his bag for Rollo to get into. The little organoid had never seen so much candy stuffed into such a small bag. Rollo pulled out a piece of peppermint, grasping it in his tiny claws and licking it.

Atherin relaxed against Eiji's front paw, and Rollo moved back with him since he was huddled right into him. It was time for a quick siesta... They had a lot of ground to cover tonight. If they were lucky, they'd make it to Guylos territory by one or two in the morning. Rollo continued to nibble on the peppermint stick, loving the taste.

Atherin soon fell asleep, his body not objecting to it. He had been interrupted earlier… Eiji allowed his sensors to dim a little. He needed to rest too, this was basically the only time they slept until his pilot decided on a new sleeping routine...or had to adapt to a new sleeping routine to keep from being suspicious... Rollo yawned and curled up on Atherin's lap, the peppermint hanging from his mouth.

After a few hours of much needed sleep Atherin and Eiji woke up. It was now about...five. He nudged Rollo gently, trying to get him to wake up. Rollo yawned and lifted his head, blinking sleepily. "Come on Rollo. It's time to go. We've gotta reach Guylos territory tonight." Atherin said as he closed his bag and sat up. Rollo squeaked and yawned, but didn't move off him. He wasn't exactly good at walking...

Atherin pulled his bag's strap over his shoulder and picked Rollo up, seeing that he wasn't going to be moving anytime soon. Eiji opened his hatch for Atherin and Rollo to get in. Using one hand to hold onto Rollo and the other to climb, Atherin was soon in Eiji's cockpit, placing Rollo in the back seat.

Rollo squeaked unhappily, and climbed into the pilot's seat, settling into Atherin's lap with a soft purr. Atherin shifted Rollo a little so he could strap himself in. When he had fiddled with it and got it to buckle, Eiji stood up. There was no need to run to Guylos. They'd make it just fine by walking. Rollo cooed and snuggled against Atherin, purring quietly.

They started off; all of Eiji's sensors keeping a look out for anything that could hurt them. They were a little worried that the border patrol would be heavy, but they'd deal with that when they got closer.

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_**Author's Note:**_ I know….the first chapter was a little boring, but it picks up!! I swear it does! I guess you could call this…an introductory to one of the main characters? ^^; Anyways, yes, Atherin is a vampire. Will his secret be exposed? And if so, how will the others react to this news? You'll just have to take guesses and wait to find out. Please Review and let us know if we're doing a good job on this collaboration!!


	2. The Ghost of the Desert

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do NOT own zoids. There. I said it. Happy now?_

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, and Playzia do NOT belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37**__._

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel and Eiji belong to __**ME**__. The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if Redai is used without my permission, it's just a name I made up on the spur of the moment, but if you use Jurei please make note of it in your disclaimer. _

_**Author's Note:**_ Here it is, chapter 2. It starts to pick up from here a little. We left off with our vampire friend Atherin and Organoid Rollo heading to Imperial territory. What awaits them when they cross the border…? A whole lot trouble…that's what XD Just as a reminder, this is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me. And Thanks to those of you that reviewed!!

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Ͽ The Ghost of the Desert Ͼ

Atherin, Eiji and Rollo continued on their way to Imperial territory. It was pretty much a quite journey, except for the occasional quip from Atherin or Eiji when they were playfully insulting each other. There was a blip on Eiji's radar, but so long as they didn't draw attention to themselves they'd be able to sneak past it.

Ibeyla was piloting Spectral through the forest, Obscura flying alongside. The Organoid zoomed off further ahead, and spotted a Blade Liger. She flew over to it, and landed on the nose, looking inside it curiously. Eiji froze when a strange Organoid landed on him. He thought that if he didn't move the Organoid wouldn't see him...or his pilot inside...

Obscura cocked her head and leaned down, swinging out her nose horn. She tapped on the glass like a bird, trying to get a response from the people inside. Eiji whined. It wasn't leaving... Atherin didn't respond to Obscura's tapping. He could detect the scent of a Zoidian on her; she was bonded to someone... Someone who was most likely nearby…

Obscura huffed, tapping harder. A golden chain around her neck, with the seal of the Imperial army, shone in the light. She flapped her crimson wings, tapping harder on the glass. Atherin could see the gold chain on the Organoid's neck with the seal of the Empire. He may have been heading to the Empire, but it didn't mean that he wasn't in any less danger. It was just that they didn't know of the incident back in Redai...yet... Eiji whined again, he didn't like the Organoid taping on the glass.

"Hello?" Obscura chirped, cocking her head as she tapped. She didn't understand why she wasn't getting a response. She turned and called, and Spectral bounded over in moments. Atherin and Eiji tensed as a Desert Panther came towards them. Now that he thought about it, why was an Imperial soldier on Republican territory...? As far as he knew the wars was still going on...or at least on hold for the moment, but tensions were still high...

Ibeyla shouted at Obscura. "Obscura, get back here!!" the Organoid immediately turned and flew back to Ibeyla as she opened a link to the Blade Liger. "Sorry, I usually keep her on a tighter leash..." she said innocently.

"..." Atherin wasn't sure if he should answer her. He didn't know her and she might...freak if she were to figure out what he is... Ibeyla cocked her head slightly. "Is something wrong? You lost or something?"

"...No... I just don't really...talk to people..." It was the truth. He hardly talked to any one…he was usually biting them instead…

"Well... I'm not gonna hurt you!" Ibeyla laughed when she saw his 'Why are you still talking to me?' expression.

Atherin looked a little skeptical about that, but might as well humor her. "...Why are you here? You're an Imperial..."

"Oh, I'm just out stretching Spectral's legs. And is there something wrong with me being an Imperial?" Ibeyla demanded, narrowing her eyes a little.

"...No... It's just...this is Republican territory..." Atherin answered, not wanting to upset the Imperial solider. There was a possibility that he could use her to get into Imperial territory with out being checked out.

Ibeyla blinked. "Well ugh.... I'm sorta lost..." she said smiling sheepishly and rubbing the back of her head. "...Lost? ...You didn't even know that you had crossed the boarder into Republican territory...?" Atherin asked a little stunned, but he quickly got over it.

Ibeyla blushed. "No... Spectral isn't exactly good with her radar. Or her sense of direction..." Ibeyla said quietly. /…I can use this to my advantage…/ "...Are you planning on ever going back to Imperial territory or just wander around here until some Republicans find you?"

"Um.... I would like to go back to Imperial territory...." /Perfect./ "...Then follow me... We'll cross the border at around one or two in the morning..." Atherin said as he got Eiji moving again. "Okay..." Ibeyla said, Spectral trotting after Eiji.

They continued on their way in mutual silence. Atherin was eating candy every fifteen minutes to a half an hour with Rollo sleeping on his lap. A few hours had passed and it was now around nine, they'd reach the boarder in about four hours time. Atherin was praying to Eve that he'd be able to get in without incident. /…So long as I'm with this Imperial soldier, I shouldn't have any trouble…. / Ibeyla followed alongside, Spectral trotting happily beside the Blade Liger.

They started to get closer to the Guylos/Helic border. Atherin was keeping an eye out for any Republicans that might have been waiting for him to come this way. Spectral continued on, completely care-free and unknowing of Atherin's growing uneasiness. They reached the boarder patrol with the next hour. Atherin grew just a little more nervous; he hoped that the girl that he had met only a few hours ago would be able to get him into Imperial territory with out incident.

Ibeyla opened a link to one of the Rev Raptors. "Hello private, this Blade Liger is with me..." she held up her ID and her heart necklace, and the soldier nodded. They let them through, no questions asked. She opened a link to Eiji. "Being a Lieutenant has its perks..."

"...Yeah... Thanks for getting me in..." Atherin said, sincerely. He may have been using her a little, but he was still grateful to be able to get into Imperial territory with out anything happening. "No problem!! I'm sure that you and your hatchling need some supplies. I'd be more than happy to buy you some..."

"...You don't have to buy them for me... I...can get them myself... By the way...I don't think I ever caught your name Lieutenant." Atherin tired to dissuade her. It wasn't working so well. "Oh, my name is Ibeyla. And I insist, its no problem. I have more than enough gold to buy supplies for the both of us."

"...I have a lot of gold too. You don't need to buy anything for me. …And I'm…Atherin." He tried again. It was then that it dawned on him that she wouldn't be leaving him just like that, but he still tried. "Atherin? That name sounds a little familiar... and please, I insist! I know where to find the best produce and supplies in this town..."

"...That doesn't mean that I can't buy my own supplies..." Atherin scowled. He hadn't intended to actually buy anything. He was 'hungry', and now that he had a tag-along he wouldn't be able to 'feed'. "Come on Atherin; let's see if anyone is still at the market. A few of the sellers are night owls..." "...Alright..." Atherin answered, defeated, as he followed Ibeyla to the zoid hanger.

Ibeyla parked Spectral and Obscura helped her to the ground. She walked over as Eiji leaned down to let Atherin out. She patted the Liger's nose as she waited for Atherin. Atherin climbed out of Eiji, using one hand to hold onto Rollo and the other to climb out of Eiji. When he was down Eiji stood up and locked his hatch. No one would be breaking into him. Atherin made sure he had his bag before he set Rollo down. "Alright Ibeyla, where to?"

"To the market. Its about a five minute walk from here. Just be sure to keep that Vareix hatchling close to your body, it'll help keep him calm." Atherin nodded. He wasn't going to ask how she knew that Rollo was a Vareix. He hadn't slipped...he had hardly talked the way here. So he assumed that she had had experiences with Vareix. He followed Ibeyla to the market, looking for those night owl merchants.

Ibeyla stopped at a fruit stand. She turned to Atherin. She grabbed his wrist and placed a small sack in his hand. "100 gold pieces should be more than enough for any supplies you and your hatchling need. Meet me back at Eiji and Spectral in about an hour. I need to get a few supplies of my own...."

Atherin watched as she walked off before he could even protest. He shook his head and mauled around the opened shops, Rollo staying close to his side. He picked out some dried meats and some fresh vegetables and fruits, had to look normal, before seeing if the candy shop was opened at this hours. It wasn't, he'd have to come back in the morning...

Ibeyla stopped at another stand. She had a bag full of fresh fruit and other of medical supplies. Now she was filling a bag with dried, candied fruits, like sugared peaches and apricots and raspberries. Obscura was chewing on a candied peach as Ibeyla shopped. Atherin and Rollo started to head back to the hanger. Atherin had popped a sucker into his mouth, he needed sugar... He couldn't risk 'hunting' with Ibeyla somewhere in the town, and possibly running into him. He had an unlucky streak with that…

Atherin and Rollo made it back to the hanger with about forty minutes to spare. That was more than enough time to hunt... "Rollo...go back to Eiji... I need a little...pick me up..." Atherin said as he spied a nobody human out too late on the wrong night at the wrong time. Rollo nodded and walked over to the Liger. He curled up on the Liger's paw, settling in to sleep.

Atherin quietly tailed the human. His eyes started to gleam red as he was about to strike. Just as the human was about to turn down another alley way Atherin nailed him. It was fast but silent, the human dead before Atherin had him pinned to the wall. He sunk his fangs into the human's neck and fed, draining the man dry of all his life's blood. It was a much needed pick me up for Atherin.

Ibeyla had bought all she needed and was heading back to Spectral. Obscura followed her, happily munching on her fuzzy peach. She would be back to the hanger in a few minutes. Atherin finished his 'meal' and made sure that there was no blood on him. He made his way back to the hanger a few minutes before Ibeyla walked in.

Ibeyla walked in calmly, while Obscura came running in trilling, foaming-at-the-mouth hyper. She bolted over and stood in front of Atherin, licking his face and wagging her tail, cooing loudly. Atherin pushed Obscura from his face, not wanting her to pick up any blood on his breath, but it was too late. Obscura could smell blood. "Are you alright?!" she asked, nosing him gently.

Atherin nodded his head. He was sure that talking before he was able to brush his teeth wouldn't help him. Obscura narrowed her eyes and snorted. "No you're not!!" she retorted. Ibeyla walked over. "Atherin? Are you hurt?!"

"...I'm not hurt... Really... I just bit my tongue while eating my sucker earlier..." Obscura narrowed her eyes. "Then stick out your tongue!!" Atherin smoothly bit his tongue, using one of his fangs, without them noticing. He stuck it out, showing them the crimson liquid forming from the newly formed cut.

Obscura and Ibeyla cringed. "Wow... that's a bad bite... almost like you have fangs!" Ibeyla joked, turning to put her newly purchased supplies in Spectral's cockpit. /...You don't know the half of it.../ Atherin thought as he pulled his tongue back into his mouth. He put his supplies in Eiji's cockpit as well. "...Where're we gonna spend the night?"

"Well... Raven will think something's up if I check into a hotel instead of going back to base, so let's set up camp outside town a few miles..." "Alright..." Atherin said picking up Rollo and getting into Eiji. Ibeyla hopped into Spectral and led the way out of town. She led Atherin to a small clearing a few miles outside town, where she had camped before. "You like this spot? I've camped here before. The soldiers won't bother us..." "I don't mind where we sleep exactly...so long as it's quiet...

"It's the quietest place for miles around, so don't worry..." Ibeyla said, slowly getting out of her Zoid. Atherin followed suit, once again holding onto Rollo. He placed Rollo on the ground and then climbed back up to get a blanket and a pillow...as well as his bag of candy... He had to change his sleeping routine now that he was traveling with someone. Ibeyla laid out her sleeping bag and pillow, setting out a mat for Obscura. She gathered some wood to start a fire as well. "Anything I can do to help?" Atherin asked. He usually didn't make a fire, or camp... He just usually laid down on the ground in good weather and in Eiji's cockpit when it was bad.

"It would really help if you could start the fire..."Ibeyla said as she went to go get something out of Spectral. Atherin piled some wood into a makeshift fire pit. He made sure that there was enough tinder before he used his zoidian 'power', when Ibeyla and Obscura weren't looking. Ibeyla turned back and saw the fire already roaring. "Wow... I usually take an hour and every curse under the sun to start a fire!"

Atherin only nodded, turning back to make his 'bed'. One blanket on the ground...pillow at one of the ends...other blanket put over first and done. Ibeyla saw his simple bed. "Atherin, I have an extra sleeping bag if you want it..."

"It's alright. I'll live...this has been my bed for about five years now. It doesn't bother me..." Ibeyla blinked. "Oh come on, you don't want to sleep on the cold, hard ground when you could have a nice, warm sleeping bag!!"

"I said I'll be fine. I don't mind it." Ibeyla narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure? That hatchling of yours needs a warm place to sleep..."

"...You're not gonna give up on this 'til I say 'yes' are you Ibeyla?" Atherin asked, his eyes narrowing as well. Ibeyla smiled innocently and nodded, tossing the sleeping bag to Atherin. Atherin caught the sleeping bag, still glaring at Ibeyla. He set it down and repositioned his blankets and pillow.

Ibeyla merely nodded and turned to Obscura and the bag of supplies. She pulled out a peach and began eating it. Atherin settled down on the 'forcefully' given sleeping bag, Rollo immediately curling up on his lap. He pulled his bag over to him and got out another piece of rock candy. Eiji growled at him, demanding candy as well, since Atherin had ignored him almost all day. Atherin took out some jaw breakers and tossed them up to Eiji. Eiji purred and rumbled happily, munching on them.

Spectral saw Eiji getting candy and felt left out. She stomped over to Atherin and whined loudly, demanding a piece as well. Atherin looked up at the Desert Panther, noticing that she was whining at him to give her some candy as well. He sighed, but dug in his bag for a chocolate bar, taking the wrapper off and tossing it up to her.

Spectral walked to where she had been sleeping and sat down, chewing the candy bar with a happy purr. Ibeyla looked over at him. "Oh Eve.... you realize that she'll be hyper now, right?"

"...I _live_ with a permanently hyper zoid." Atherin said as he swatted Eiji's paw away from his bag. Eiji having been trying to sneak another piece of candy without Atherin noticing... Ibeyla snickered slightly. "I feel sorry for you..." Atherin sighed, Eiji now complaining about Zoid abuse…

Ibeyla sighed. Spectral would be twitchy and hyper all night. Now Obscura was whining. "Atherin, could you spare a piece of rock candy or something my Organoid could suck on for a while? Just to shut her up?" Atherin dug into his bag again, looking for some rock candy... It was his favorite and he was starting to run low. Tomorrow, when they went back to town to gather the rest of their supplies, he'd go get some more. He found a piece and tossed it to Obscura, the Organoid catching it with ease. Obscura happily began munching on the rock candy. She growled a thank you to Atherin and wagged her tail, her eyes closed happily.

As Atherin continued to eat his piece of rock candy he felt he should offer some to Ibeyla if she wanted to have some. "Do you want any?" Ibeyla shook her head no. "No thanks... I just had a candied peach... and too many sweets before bed will give me nightmares..." she politely turned him down. She loved rock candy, but she knew how much she could allow herself to have.

"If you say so..." Atherin finished his piece of candy and started to get ready for bed...at least it looked like he was. Settling into a new sleeping routine took a few nights... "I can keep first watch..." Atherin offered. "Alright... that might be a good idea... there have been some... strange deaths and disappearances around here..." Ibeyla yawned stretching as she settled in to sleep.

/...Strange deaths and disappearances…? ...Yeah from me.../ Atherin thought as Ibeyla, Obscura and Spectral settled in to go to sleep. Ibeyla and Obscura quickly fell asleep and Rollo was already asleep in Atherin's lap. Atherin wasn't really watching anything in particular as he listened to the owls. They'd be the first to let him know if there was someone else in the forest with them.

It was sometime during the night and Raven was in his BFSE looking for Ibeyla. She hadn't reported back to base. With all the deaths and disappearances, he was... concerned that Ibeyla had gotten herself killed.

Back at camp, Atherin had conveniently forgotten to wake Ibeyla up for her shift. He had slept a little, Eiji taking over his shift, because as far as he knew he _was_ what was causing the deaths and disappearances. During the early morning hours, Raven had fallen asleep in the BFSE, so Shadow had taken over. She was honing in on Obscura's presence, and would catch up sometime in the morning.

Morning broke and Eiji rumbled to Atherin to get up. "...Fine..." There was an old saying that said 'leave sleeping bears lie' that Eiji must not have ever learned from his pilot. Atherin got up; eyes glazed over from sleep, his body not yet use to waking at this time. He checked the fire, making sure that it was still going before he got his things to clean himself up with.

Obscura nudged Ibeyla awake, growling sleepily. She finally got up and stretched looking over at Atherin. "Good morning... we better hurry and get back to town. Raven's gonna have my hide anyway for not checking in at base last night. Ugh... he and Major Schubaltz are gonna tell Gunther on me..." she huffed unhappily, slouching her shoulders and sighing. Atherin only shot her a sleepy death glare...its effect only half there if at all. He looked slightly demonic with his glazed over eyes and messy bed hair... He had no clue who she was talking about but he had a sinking feeling that he was going to 'meet' more people...that would tag along with him. He finished his morning rituals before turning to Ibeyla to see if she was ready.

Ibeyla smiled. "Don't think glares will work on me... I get death glares all the time from Raven..." she joked. She already had her sleeping bag, Obscura's mat and supply bags packed and ready. She was just waiting for Atherin and Rollo to get ready. Atherin had already packed up his blankets and forced upon him sleeping bag when he had woken up. He was ready, even if Rollo was not, and in his arms still sleeping. Ibeyla got in Spectral, and the Zoid got up and turned to Eiji. She was ready to go. Atherin and Rollo climbed into Eiji and followed Ibeyla back to town. Atherin knew the first place where he was going.

Ibeyla led Atherin back to the Zoids hanger and hopped out of Spectral alongside Obscura. "Alright, do you want to go back to the market? All of the shops should be open now...." Ibeyla said. "Yeah...I need to pick up a few things that I couldn't last night..." Atherin replied as he and Rollo, who was in his arms, followed Ibeyla back to the market.

When they reached the market place Ibeyla turned and gave Atherin another sack of gold, although this time there was only 50 pieces. "Get whatever supplies you need..." she told him. "I can't take this from you. You already gave me money last night. I have more than enough to pay for what I need." Atherin said as he handed it back to her and walked off before Ibeyla could shove it back into his hands.

Ibeyla shrugged and turned around, coming face to face with Raven. "Where the Helkat have you been, Ibeyla? Karl and Thomas were worried sick about you...." Raven said, his arms crossed, trying to ignore Obscura as she licked him happily. "Oh...sorry Raven. I was just helping a boy I found out. I didn't want to leave him out there alone with all the killings recently..."

Meanwhile… Atherin walked to the candy shop, Rollo now resting on his shoulders to leave his hands free. Atherin had sealed his bag so then the shop owner wouldn't think that he was stealing; he did have a large amount of candy on him. He liked to buy his candy in bulk... He sauntered around the store, basically emptying the bin that held the rock candy in it. He grabbed a few more handfuls of suckers and other sweets putting them in his store bag to be weighed to see how much gold he owed. After the store clerk gave him a _very_ confused look he told Atherin how much he owed, which was 120 gold pieces, and bid him good day. Atherin left the shop, pulling out one of his rock candies for himself and a sucker for Rollo. Rollo chewed on the sucker, happily licking it and wagging his tail.

Atherin walk down the streets, making sure no one tried to pick his pockets and keeping people from touching/patting Rollo. The hatchling was starting to become uneasy with so many people trying to touch him Rollo had resorted to nipping at people who tried to pet or poke him. He hated being a toy! He huddled against Atherin's neck, trying to hide from all the people.

"It's okay Rollo... They're jus' interested in seeing a hatchling. I won't let them take you." Atherin said as he caressed Rollo. Rollo cooed and nuzzled his hand, licking him and purring, calming down.

Meanwhile.... Ibeyla was talking to Raven, who was already uninterested in hearing why she hadn't returned to base the night before. After a while, Raven and Ibeyla sat down on a bench, Obscura curled up at their feet. Raven was leaning back with his arms crossed and eyes closed, using Obscura as a footrest. Ibeyla was looking around, waiting for Atherin to return.

Atherin soon spotted Ibeyla and Obscura with a boy he hadn't seen before, but he guessed that this was 'Raven'. It's was one of the only names that Ibeyla had mentioned. Ibeyla stood and walked over to Atherin. "Did you get everything you needed, Atherin?" she asked.

Atherin nodded. "Yeah, I've got everything." Ibeyla then spotted the only store bag that he was carrying. Curious as to what he had bought she tipped it a little and peered inside it. "Dear Eve Atherin!! You spent all that money on candy?!" Ibeyla shrieked, looking at him in shock. "You'll get sick if you eat all that candy!!"

"...Ibeyla...I eat a piece of candy just about every fifteen minutes...maybe twenty when I'm having a good day..." Atherin just about deadpanned. Didn't she see how much candy he had last night? Ibeyla shook her head. "You aren't human..." she joked, turning to gather her things. "Oh, Atherin, this is Raven. Now come on, let's go get our Zoids and get going..."

/... You got that right.../ Atherin thought. He nodded to Raven; the boy looked just about as talkative as a rock to him. He followed after Ibeyla, back to Eiji not knowing the...problems…Eiji would cause... Ibeyla hurried upon hearing a commotion in the Zoids hanger. "C'mon guys, something's wrong!!"

Atherin and Raven took off after Ibeyla. Atherin having a gut feeling that he knew what was happening... /Damn that giant metal cat.../ When they got there, they saw Eiji trying to get free of the hanger to look for his pilot. When he spotted Atherin he became even more excited and started to rumble and growl even louder. "Will someone please put me out of my misery...?" Atherin asked dejectedly, as he watched Eiji grow more and more hyper.

Ibeyla turned to look at Atherin. "Is something wrong?! What's wrong with your Liger?!" "...Nothing... He's just…happy that I'm back... He's such a pain…" Atherin sighed. "Great..." Ibeyla groaned. "Alright, get him calmed down. We need to get back to base before Major Schubaltz has our hides...."

Atherin nodded and went to Eiji; the Liger practically pounced on him as soon as Atherin got with in his range. Eiji lowered his giant head and started to nuzzle Atherin saying that he was glad that he was back, that no one had killed him and all that good stuff. "Eiji...calm down... You're making a scene..." Atherin said as he patted Eiji's nose, instantly getting the Liger to settle down. While Atherin was getting nuzzled and pinned by the Liger, Spectral wandered over and licked Raven, making him jump in surprise. "Ibeyla! Make your damn Zoid stop!" Raven shouted, hitting Spectral's nose with his fist.

Eiji opened his hatch for Atherin and Rollo to get in. Once in he mentally told Eiji to keep the hatch opened until they were all ready to go. While waiting for Ibeyla and Raven Atherin transferred his newly bought sweets to his bag...and took out a sucker to suck on while he waited. Ibeyla settled Spectral down and got in. Raven, after wiping off the Zoid spit, got into the BFSE. "C'mon, we gotta hurry." she led the way out and to the base. Eiji closed the hatch and strapped his pilot in. Atherin let Eiji follow Ibeyla to where ever they were going. He thought he heard something about a base...? Ibeyla opened up a link to Atherin. "You're welcome to come with us back to base. We're supposed to be investigating the dozen or so deaths and disappearances, you're welcome to join us."

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_**Author's Note:**_ The plot thickens a little!! After this chapter, it really starts to pick up ^^ Atherin is now in the company of Ibeyla and Raven, with a choice. Will he go along with them? Or will he decide to part ways? You'll just have to find out in the next chapter XD Review Please!!


	3. There's Another One?

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do NOT own zoids. Don't make me feel even more depressed by that fact…_

_**Disclaimer 2: **__The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca and Playzia do NOT belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37**__._

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel and Eiji belong to __**ME**__. The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if Redai is used without my permission, it's just a name I made up on the spur of the moment, but if you use Jurei please make note of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ Alrighty, chapter 3. Last we heard, Ibeyla had just offered Atherin a chance to come with her and Raven back to base. The question is…will he go with them or part ways? And also…something new is discovered…what that something is however…you'll just have to wait and find out. ^^

To iwalkthelight: I understand that it's hard to tell what Atherin is exactly, referring to him being either a zoidian that's a vampire or just a vampire. I do not want to ruin anything for you or any other readers, but it will be explained.

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me. We hope that you enjoy reading it!! And Thanks to those of you that reviewed!!

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Ͽ There's _Another_ One!? Ͼ

/ ...Hmmm... Go to the base with them and wander around looking for me...or leave and have them chance upon me at the wrong time... I think my decision has already been made. / Atherin thought as he continued to follow them.

They arrived at the base quickly. "Alright Atherin; just stick close to me. I'll show you around." Ibeyla said maneuvering Spectral into her stall. Atherin moved Eiji into a stall next to Spectral and mentally told Eiji to behave himself. He climbed out of Eiji's cockpit with Rollo on his shoulder, and followed Ibeyla.

Raven already had his BFSE in its stall and was leaning against the wall. He stood beside Ibeyla, who was leading the way. Atherin walked behind them a little, once again with a sucker in his mouth. He didn't know who he was going to meet, but they'd just have to get over the fact that he's rarely seen with out candy in his mouth.

Ibeyla took Raven and Atherin to Major Schubaltz. He didn't look too happy, but he didn't say anything. "Ms. Secura, you and Raven, and your new friend there, are to go and investigate the deaths and disappearances around and outside town."

/...I didn't realize that I was gonna be drafted.../ Atherin thought as he tried not to let his eyes wander around the base. There were so many noises that he could hear, things that he could smell and things that he could see that the others couldn't. He was only half listening to this...Shoe-boltz; he thought it was pronounced, and was waiting for Ibeyla to lead him somewhere else.

Ibeyla turned and sighed. "Back to the Zoids..." she said, leading them back to the Zoid hanger. Atherin just followed her. He wondered how much information the Empire had on these attacks or if they were just following rumors...

Ibeyla and Raven were in their Zoids in an instant. "Okay Atherin, we need to do a sweep of the town's outer areas and the outskirts; there was another death this morning and late last night..."

/ …There was another death besides the one I caused…? Late last night was me, but I'm certain I didn't 'feed' this morning... Perhaps the morning death was a murder? ...Well...I've been 'murdering' people too so that doesn't help... I guess I'll just have to wait and see.../ Atherin got into Eiji and followed Ibeyla and Raven to where ever they were heading.

Ibeyla led Raven and Atherin out of town, to the outskirts and opened a link. "Alright... this is the seventh or eighth killing in this town alone this week. We need to try and track down the killer. The killer is supposedly around 16 with shoulder length black hair and violet eyes..."

"Are their any details about how or who the killer attacks? There might be some sort of pattern or a constant."

"Well... the killer appears to behave like... like a vampire. But he's not just draining the blood, he's.... practically eating his victims... it's horrible..."

/...Is there another vampire besides me? It's a possibility.../ "Who does the killer target, anyone? Are there conditions?"

"It seems that anyone is targeted... men, women, even a child. It's chilling just to think about it... it's almost like this person is a vampire..."

/...Not even _I_ attack children... Women sometimes...but not often...or recently.../ "So...there are...marks...on the victims' necks?" / Might as well get as much information as I can.../

"Yeah, like.... fang marks. Two small punctures and the victims are completely drained of blood. Some have their organs eaten. But there aren't many signs of a struggle. It's almost like... the victims are paralyzed..."

/... Paralyzed…? The victims that were just drained are easily dealt with from a quick attack from behind... The ones with their organs missing...might have been charmed.../"...Do you believe that it's just a sicko? ...Or something else...?"

"No... It seems to happen every day or every few hours. The killer is moving quickly; we don't know how he's covering so much ground. If fact the only thing that can cover that much ground without being seen... is an Organoid... and also, the killer seems to be killing people for food, not for sport or fun..."

/...A vampire can move just a quick if not quicker than an organoid.../ "...Killing for food...? Why would a person...kill and eat someone for food, using vampirism ways? Wouldn't it make more sense for it to be an organoid...?" /…I can't believe I'm asking such questions… But I haveta act as normal as possible for as long as possible…/

"The fang marks are too small on most of the victims to be an Organoid. And there are human footprints around the victim, although sometimes there are the tracks of a large Organoid. I think that the victims are drained of blood by a human, or at least humanoid, and an Organoid is consuming the victims afterward, but we aren't sure...."

/...If the fang marks are that small then it most likely is another vampire...with a flesh loving organoid in tow.../ "...Have you done any outside research?"

"Well... I've tried to have Obscura track down the Organoid, but whenever we got close enough to see it, Obscura loses its presence. Like it just vanished. And we can't seem to track down this vampire like person either. He moves too fast, and yet there are no signs of Zoids nearby the killings..."

"Do you...believe...in vampires...?" /…It'll make things a tad bit easier if I at least know their thoughts about us…as having a 'rogue' around isn't good…/

"Of course! Back when I was a child, one of my closest friends, Luna, was a vampire! I know some are dangerous, but most are humane and tolerable, some even nice! But this one... this is one of the evil vampires..."

"..." /....I can't let them know what I am just yet...if at all..../

Ibeyla led Raven and Atherin out of town. "Okay, our first stop is Mule. There were a few deaths there two days ago..." Ibeyla barely noticed Atherin's silence, leading the group towards Mule. "Alright, we'll poke around for leads in Mule, and then head to Porto..."

"...Mule..." /...Great...I have to go back to there.../

"Yes Mule.... is something wrong with that, Atherin?" Ibeyla asked, looking through the link at him with a hint of suspicion.

"...No... Just...some bad memories…"

Ibeyla cocked her head slightly. "Did something happen there?"

"...Yeah... ...But I'd rather not talk about it..." /...If I did then you'd know that I am a vampire...and that can't happen...at least not until this rogue vampire is caught.../

"That's alright... I won't make you say anything you don't want to..."

Atherin dug some candy out of his bag. He was depressed now, and needed a pixi stix to cheer him up. Ibeyla noticed Atherin eating _another_ piece of candy. "How can you stomach all that candy Atherin?!" Ibeyla said, before Raven opened a link to the both of them. "Because he's not human..." he rolled his eyes, "Now can we please pay attention? The killer can be anywhere, and I really don't want him to find us first..."

Atherin only half heard Raven, to engrossed with eating and thinking about the rogue vampire to notice what he had said. And he chose not to answer Ibeyla as to how he could eat so much candy and not get sick. His body basically absorbed all the sugar was soon as it was in his stomach.

Ibeyla didn't take his silence as rude; she just thought he was too busy eating to answer. They reached the gates of Mule and upon showing the guards her insignia the gates opened and they entered.

Atherin followed Ibeyla and Raven to the hanger where he left Eiji, who whined and cried as he left. He waited to for them to tell him what exactly they were looking for...even though he knew what to look for…

"Alright... lets head towards the market, that's where the first murder took place. Keep your eyes open and ears sharp; the key is to not ask for info, but listen for it..." Ibeyla said.

"Then we should spilt up... If we move in a group we'll hear the same information... If we're apart we can cover more ground and listen in on more conversations..."

"I was thinking the same thing. Raven and I will stay together, being Imperial it'll keep us safer. You're neutral, so you'll be fine..."

Atherin nodded and headed for the town square. There would be many housewives gossiping there and with his acute hearing he'd be able to hear all the conversations and hone in on the ones that were relevant. Atherin walked around the square. There were a few shops set up selling trinkets, so he acted like a tourist, walking from shop to shop listening all around him. One conversation had piqued his interest...

"....that's right. That strange boy headed... No, it was the other... /Grrr...Get on with it! / Yes'm headed towards the library... ....... What'd he look like? ....Well...he had lavender eyes, which are about the only thing that stood out... Not too many people have that eye color! *giggle* Yeah, I heard that rumor too, vampires and what not. So as I was tellin' Fen about my garden...."

Atherin wasn't going to go looking for this boy without telling the others what he had heard. He had a feeling that he was their other vampire, but he was a little confused as to why he wanted to go to the library. Perhaps something was there? Whatever it was he didn't want to run into the guy in broad daylight.... It would be disastrous...

Ibeyla and Raven, and their Organoids, headed to the market. There were lots of people there, and all they had to do was sit and wait for someone to say something... Ibeyla made herself less suspicious by petting and focusing on Obscura, hiding her Imperial symbols and acting like any other 16 year old. Raven had his eyes closed and was leaning back against the bench with his eyes closed, his arms crossed over his chest. Shadow was curled up behind the bench to hide herself mostly from view, except for her head, which was resting on Raven's shoulder.

Ibeyla pulled out her communicator and looked at the time. A few hours had passed. She'd give the 'investigation' another hour at most. Ibeyla had gotten bored. "Alright Raven, let's go find Atherin and get outta here..." she said, getting up and beginning to walk towards the square. Raven and the Organoids quickly followed. They arrived in the square. "Atherin!? Where are you!?"

"You don't need to yell. I'm right here." Atherin said from behind them. He had been sitting on a bench in the shade, the mid-day heat starting to fatigue him. "Did you guys find anything?"

Ibeyla jumped slightly and turned. "Don't do that! You scared me! We didn't hear anything important… Did you hear anything?"

"Yeah… Apparently a boy with lavender eyes was seen heading towards the library. After listening in on a couple different conversations, he headed there early this morning. There's a slim chance that he's still there, but we might find out what he was looking for."

"Okay... let's head to the library." Ibeyla said, turning and leading the group towards the old library... Atherin followed Ibeyla and Raven to the library. It was old and a little run down now thanks to technological advancements, but there were things there that weren't archived in any data bases, such as old legends and superstitions from ages past...

They entered the library. "So... what are we looking for?" Ibeyla asked.

As soon as they entered the building Atherin picked up on the over whelming scent of blood. Then he noticed it...the librarian wasn't at his/her desk... It made perfect sense...hardly anyone used the library any more... "Find the librarian...and we'll find our next victim…"

Ibeyla could smell it as well. "Oh no... Guys, split up and look around, something isn't right here..."

Atherin followed the scent to where it was strongest, looking down the rows of books. He finally found the body...in the vampire legend section. /How ironic…. / "I found him...he's over here in the supernatural section..." Ibeyla hesitantly followed Raven to Atherin. Raven seemed totally unfazed, but Ibeyla was shaking and feeling sick. "Dear Eve..."

The man had been drained of his blood, leaving him a pasty white death color. Atherin was unaffected by it, having seen and done this many times, but the others, no matter how tough their exterior looked, had never scene a victim before. They had only been told about it.

"Damn... it really looks like we've got a vampire on our hands..." Raven muttered, his eyes betraying how shocked he truly was. "Atherin... any clues as to where the... vampire would have gone?"

"... No.... Perhaps something in these books might help us..." Now he really wasn't ready to tell them the truth...about him. They had just seen first hand what a vampire is capable of...no matter what the vampire is called. Good and Rogue both kill in order to survive... /Besides...I don't know where this vampire would head next... He wouldn't stay here, he'll move on to another city or town.../

Ibeyla spotted a book that had been hastily jammed back into place. She pulled it out, and a piece of paper fell out. A map. "Look... Porto is circled... maybe he's headed there?" she suggested as she held out the piece of paper to Atherin and Raven.

"..." Atherin was too deep in thought to have heard what Ibeyla had said. She lightly shook Atherin's shoulder. "Atherin, c'mon, I think he's headed to Porto..."

"...Okay... What about...the body...? Shouldn't we call the authorities?"

"I did while you were spaced out... now c'mon, let's hurry and catch him at Porto!"

"Porto's about a three day trek from here...even in a zoid. /Even for a vampire.../ There's a possibility that we'll be able to catch him there...but a plan would be advisable..."

Ibeyla nodded as they waited for the authorities to arrive. When they did she led them back to the hanger. "C'mon, we gotta hurry..."

Eiji allowed Atherin in, no complaints, no happy rumbling, a sign that he knew that something was bothering his pilot. They silently followed Ibeyla and Raven, Atherin eating another piece of candy. Rollo chirped in Atherin's cockpit, nuzzling him and cooing. "Can me have pwiece, Atherin?"

"Sure. Help yourself." Atherin said, opening his bag for Rollo to get into and get whatever piece of candy he wanted. Rollo chirped happily and pulled out a sucker, licking it happily and purring, wagging his tail. Eiji mentally complained to Atherin about not getting a piece. His Liger was back to normal now, but even through Eiji's whining Atherin was thinking about Porto.

Ibeyla and Raven led the way, making good time with their fast Zoids. Atherin was keeping up with them. He didn't need to use Eiji's boosters to make sure he didn't fall behind. In fact, if he used them, they'd be left behind... Night soon fell upon them and it was now time for them to set up camp.

Ibeyla stopped in a clearing. "Let's set up camp here..." she said, stepping out of her Zoid with her stuff. Atherin followed pursuit, making sure he had all the stuff that he needed. He set up his sleeping bag and blankets near Eiji and went to look for some fire wood. He didn't think he'd be able to get away with instantly lighting a fire without someone noticing this time.

Ibeyla already had her stuff ready, and had also set up Raven's stuff, since he was too busy complaining about something to eat to help. He for some reason didn't think fruit was good enough for dinner.

When Atherin retuned with fire wood he noticed that Ibeyla and Raven were arguing over something... He asked Eiji about it and Eiji told him it had something to do with supper. Well, so long as they were arguing he'd be able to start that fire and possibly start making something...that didn't involve candy.

Ibeyla had gotten fed up with Raven's arguing. She didn't even notice Atherin had returned. She reached into her bag, and when Raven opened his mouth to complain, she shoved an apple into it, effectively shutting him up. "You're having an apple for dinner; deal with it Raven!"

Atherin watched as Ibeyla shoved an apple into Raven's mouth, not paying attention to what he was suppose to be doing…which was making a fire without them noticing that his fingertips looked like they were on fire.

Ibeyla looked over to Atherin when she heard a fire crackling. "Atherin! You're on fire!!"

/…Wha…? Furher!! Damnit all to hell! She noticed…/ He berated. He sighed and deactivated his Zoidian power; his fingertips were with out a single burn.

Ibeyla blinked her eyes. During that time Raven had pulled the apple out of his mouth and was looking at Atherin as well. "Atherin? Are you alright?" Ibeyla asked in concern.

"Just peachy." He answered showing her his fingers.

Ibeyla grabbed his wrist lightly, looking at his hand. "How aren't you burned?"

"...It's...well it's...my power...my Zoidian power.../Well…kinda.../

"You're a Zoidian?"

"...Yeah... But...I'm not an…Ancient Zoidian..."

Ibeyla cocked her head. "How can you have a Zoidian power, and not be an ancient Zoidian?"

"...Well....that's a little hard to explain... I'm a Zoidian but at the same time...I'm not a Zoidian..."

Ibeyla cocked her head and Raven blinked. "That doesn't make any sense..." Ibeyla stated, stroking Obscura.

Atherin stood up, just in case, before he told them. There was no sense in lying to them any further…it'd only cause problems down the line. "In a sense I am a Zoidian. I live on Zi, speak its native language, and have no human ancestry. But I'm also not a Zoidian. I'm not from the ancient time of the Zoidians, I don't understand any of the Ancient texts and writings, but I also don't have any Zoidian ancestry either."

Ibeyla blinked in surprise. "Then... what _are_ you?"

Atherin hesitated for a moment. It wasn't everyday that you told someone what you truly were. "…I'm…well…I'm a…vampire…"

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_**Author's Note:**_ Uh oh… Atherin's secret is now revealed, but will Ibeyla and Raven keep it? Not to mention, what will Ibeyla's and Raven's reaction be to this new…development? Also…who is this other vampire that causing havoc on the planet? Why is he killing so many people and what is it that he wants? You'll just have to wait and find out! Please Review!!


	4. I Don't Bite Hard

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do not own Zoids. _

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, and Playzia do NOT belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37**__._

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel and Eiji belong to __**ME**__. The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if Redai is used without my permission, it's just a name I made up on the spur of the moment, but if you use Jurei please make not of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ Last chapter Raven and Ibeyla found out Atherin's secret…and now, we'll find out their reactions. ^^ Thanks to those of you that Reviewed!!

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me. We hope that you enjoy reading it!

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Ͽ I Don't Bite…Hard… Ͼ

Ibeyla gulped involuntarily, but didn't move… Raven stared at him and froze, but didn't make a sound. "Holy Helkat...."

"Don't get me wrong. I'm not like the rogue that you're after. I'm considered 'good'. I only 'hunt' when it's absolutely necessary. Your rogue 'hunts' just about every night. He has no standards, everyone is considered fair game...including me…"

Ibeyla blinked again. "I never said you were bad or evil. I told you that I used to be friends with a vampire, so I know the difference between a good vampire and rouge. If you were a rogue, you would have killed me when we first met. I'm just surprised that I didn't catch on earlier.... Luna used to eat lots of candy, something about blood sugar and suppressing hunger..."

Atherin chuckled. "Yeah, that's a sure sign of a 'good' vampire. We hardly ever go anywhere with out candy on us. It allows us to wander around human towns and not hurt someone...unless that is our intention... You see, to you blood tastes metallic, but to us it is liquid candy. It's sweet, so eating sweets helps us to keep our 'hunger' in check; but if our blood sugar goes to low we go into a cold sleep..."

Ibeyla nodded. "Yeah... that happened to Luna's brother, Tytho once... I wondered how you were able to eat so much candy without getting sick. I never thought I'd meet another good vampire..."

Atherin nodded to Ibeyla and then noticed Raven's deer-in-front-of-a-zoid look. "You don't have to worry about me. I don't bite...hard..." He smirked.

Raven narrowed his eyes at Atherin, although there was a bit of fear or nervousness in his eyes. Ibeyla swallowed slightly. "You... wouldn't hurt him, would you?"

"It's a joke. A j-o-k-e. If I wanted to 'eat' him I would have done so by now."

Ibeyla laughed, although Raven didn't find it very funny. He merely glared at Atherin, before Shadow distracted him by nosing his shoulder and growling. Atherin chuckled. He always was good at getting under someone's skin, though these Imperials were taking him being a vampire better than the Republicans did. It made him feel a little more at ease.

Ibeyla sighed. "Raven's just antisocial, ignore him." she said, looking over at Raven. Shadow was nosing and sniffing him, as if looking him over to make sure Atherin hadn't hurt him. "Ignore Shadow too, she's just overprotective..."

"It's not like I'd hurt the only people who accept me. Though...when and if we return back to that base of yours...do you mind not telling anyone? It's kinda hard to act 'normal' if people know that vampires really do exist."

"It's okay Atherin; Shadow is like this all the time. She does it every time she thinks her little Raven is hurt. And don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I'll make sure Raven keeps it quiet too. That won't be much of a problem, since he hardly talks at all..."

"That's good... I don't want another 'hunt' to occur..." Atherin replied, fiddling around with his bag looking for another pixi stix. Today seemed to be a pixi stix day.

"Yeah, that's how Luna and the rest of her family were killed..."

"It's…how my entire village was destroyed... As far as I know, my village of Jurei was the last hidden vampire village. I haven't heard of any others...so our rogue is most likely a survivor from a different village... Probably gotten bolder with his killing now that he's older..."

"We don't want you to get hurt or worse if people were to find out; and I have a feeling this is a young vampire though, so I don't know why he's doing this. Revenge probably for something..."

"....It might be for Porto..."

"Maybe, maybe not; He could just be enjoying himself too much, he and his Organoid..."

"Perhaps... Though if he is, I don't see why he would want to blow his cover... It just doesn't make sense..."

"Maybe... it's a trap? Or maybe he was trying to hide that map from the librarian and hastily shoved it in to attack? I'm not sure... I doubt he knows we're on to him..."

"I doubt he was trying to hide it from the librarian... If anything he played dumb in order to get to the librarian...and then went on his way looking for the map. Maybe something spooked him while he was reading it... Or someone entered and he didn't want to get caught with the body... It could be a number of things..."

Ibeyla nodded. "Probably... But who knows, I want to know how he got out. The librarian couldn't have been dead more than a few minutes. And there was only one way out..."

"...The librarian had been dead for a few hours...by the time we reached him... As for getting out without anyone seeing him...he could have...charmed his way out... He wouldn't have hesitated to use it..."

Ibeyla nodded. "Yeah.... but he can't be too far ahead of us. Hopefully we'll catch him at Porto." she yawned, stretching sleepily.

"I'd offer to take night watch, but I don't think Raven trusts me quite yet."

"Don't worry, Shadow won't let anyone get within five feet of him, except me, so he'll be out like a light in five minutes..."

"Alright then; If Eiji or I sense anything, we'll let ya know." Atherin said as he sat down on his sleeping bag, once again using the forest to let him know if there was anyone else in there with them.

Ibeyla nodded. She looked back at Raven. He was already asleep with Shadow curled around him. She got in her sleeping bag and laid down, and was asleep in minutes.

The night came and went. Eiji had taken over for Atherin again and had once again woken him up earlier than he wanted to be woken. He made the fire again, this time determined to eat something other than candy and fruit. He needed some meat and veggies too! After he was done with his morning rituals and had packed up his stuff Atherin went to work on making a long deserved breakfast. He started to prepare breakfast. Eiji was excited to actually be eating some of Atherin's cooking again. He set up a pan over the fire, putting some sausage he had bought in it. While that was going he started to make potato pancakes, an old favorite that his mom used to make.

Ibeyla was still deeply asleep; Obscura curled up beside her, trying to get on the sleeping bag. Raven hadn't moved all night, Shadow still curled around him. After a few minutes Ibeyla woke up, smelling something cooking. She kicked Obscura off her, and sat up. *yawn* "Hey Atherin... what're ya making?"

"Breakfast."

"It smells great..."

"Thanks... It'll be done soon... Just a few more minutes..."

"Okay..." Ibeyla replied. She turned and shook Raven awake.

Atherin pulled the sausage and potato pancakes off the pan, placing heaps on everyone's plates... He couldn't help it that he always made too much by human standards. He had a huge 'hunger' to try and sate…everyday... Ibeyla and Raven ate happily. "This is really good, Atherin!" she complemented him. Raven merely ate. He wasn't complaining, so that was good...

Atherin only nodded, unable to speak because he had food in his mouth. Eiji sat behind him, his giant head hovering over Atherin, whining about not being fed. When Atherin ignored him, he tried to grab a piece off his plate, and Atherin swatted his big nose away from it. "Eiji, you'll get some when I'm finished...just hold on..."

Ibeyla and Raven were almost finished. Obscura was eating a potato pancake, growling happily. When Atherin had finished eating his fill, five helpings worth, he gave the remaining food to Eiji, who rumbled happily as he ate it. He waited for the others to finish before they moved out again. Ibeyla and Raven finished quickly and packed up their things. After their camp was cleared away they got into their zoids and continued onto Porto.

They reached Porto and Ibeyla led them to the Zoid hanger and they parked their Zoids. She jumped out and turned to Atherin. "Where do you think he'd be?"

"...In Porto...? ...The first place I'd go to would be Windeen... ...Then...the library....there's something that he's looking for, but we don't know what yet... If nothing turns up there then the last place I would look for him would be in the cemetery...at night..."

"I doubt the cemetery. He has never been seen there. He's been seen in public places, so I'd guess he'd be in an alley or somewhere, that's where most of the deaths and sightings were..."

"...Not to kill someone... Porto use to be a major vampire city centuries ago... No matter what type of vampire, good, rogue, heck even Vareix would most likely go to the cemetery..." After seeing their confused looks he further explained; "...The cemetery was placed on top of a mineral that vampires used to sate their 'hunger' by crafting it into some sort of jewelry... But it can also work in reverse... It can increase a vampire's 'hunger' by 100 fold, thus leading them into a blood lust... In blood lust it's nearly impossible to destroy a vampire... A special tool is needed...and the only one still in existence is in New Helic city in the museum..."

"Great... but, how are we gonna kill him? Then again, kill his Organoid? We don't even know what type of Organoid he's partnered with..."

"...We might find something in the library about dealing with Organoids... But the quickest way to kill him would be to..."

Ibeyla blinked. "What do you have to do?"

"...It's considered a taboo...so I'm not sure if I could go through with it..."

"Well.... what is it?"

"...Biting him...on the neck..."

"What's so bad about that? You do it to your victims... no offense...."

Atherin shot Raven a death glare so intense that it looked like his eyes were turning red. "Biting a human on the neck has no effect on them. I could bite you right now and you'd hardly feel a thing, but for a vampire to bite another vampire on the neck is considered 'mind rape'. If I were to bite him I'd have full access to his brain. I could do whatever I like with it. I could make him go insane, make his brain implode, turn it to jelly, put him in a vegetative state for the rest of his life, the list goes on and on."

Ibeyla blinked her eyes and shuddered slightly in disgust. "Wow... Luna and Tyroth never mentioned that..."

"Because it's best left unsaid. There is another, slower way, but it involves finding something called...Nidhogg... I don't know the exact details of what it is, but I do know that ancient humans and zoidians would coat their weapons with it... I think it's a poison of some sort...to vampires at least..." / That's what they used before they made 'It'…/

"I remember something with that name... that's.... that's what they used to kill Luna and her family with...during the 'hunt'…"

"I would like to say 'I don't care which method we use' but I can't. But if you're absolutely sure about using the first method then I'll do so...but I don't think I'll be able to forgive you for putting me through it..."

"I never said you had to do it! We just need to bring him in, not kill him!!"

"Bringing him in alive will be a challenge... He wouldn't be afraid to charm either of you nor trying to charm me... If he succeeds with that then we'll all be killed."

Ibeyla gulped. "We'll have to risk it. I don't want to make you do anything you don't want to. And we have our Organoids to protect us..."

"As does he. If we're gonna bring him in we'll need to deal with his organoid first... And the best place to try and find that out would be at the library."

"Why at the library? What is it with you vampires and libraries anyway?" Raven questioned.

"Do you know how to combat against his organoid? Do you even know what type of organoid he has? If I had to make a bet, I'd say he's partnered with a Vareix. A vampire organoid. Something just as deadly as he is. Something that won't hesitate to eat you alive. Now. Do you want to go into battle with no clue about what you're up against? Or do you want to prepare yourself?"

Raven gulped slightly. "Fine... we'll go look in the stupid library." he muttered. They made their way through the crowded streets of Porto, heading for the library. When they arrived they were relieved to see that the librarian was still alive and that there was no scent of blood anywhere, as far as Atherin could tell anyways. "...Organoids are 'new' in this era so they might not have a section devoted to them, but they might turn up in older texts...or legends..."

Ibeyla nodded. She walked into the reference section, and produced a thick book on Organoid species and legends. She handed it to Atherin. "Will this help?"

"Yeah." Atherin flipped the book open when Ibeyla handed to him. "...This is gonna take longer than I thought..." Ibeyla flipped the page back to the index. "Here Atherin; page 371 is where the section on Vareix starts..."

"I figured that much out Ibeyla... It's just...I can't read it... And I doubt either of you can." He said as he flipped through the whole book just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. When he was sure he went back to the Vareix section started and showed them what he meant. There weren't any words...it was just filled with miniature murals... They'd have to decipher all the pictures... Ibeyla left Raven and Atherin and walked over to the librarian. "We're going to check out that book for help in solving a murder." she said, and the librarian nodded. She returned to them. "Alright, we can take the book..."

"...Then let's head somewhere more private. If we're caught seriously discussing vampire's where someone can overhear us, it'll make things even more difficult for us..."

"Listen, I'll get us a room at the inn by the hanger, so we can be close to our Zoids if something happens. And we'll have a nice, quiet place to look this over..." Ibeyla said. She led them out of library and to the inn, where she rented a room for the three of them. After they had secured a room, their personal items were flung onto which bed they wanted. "Who wants to try their hand at deciphering it first?" Atherin asked, holding up the book.

"Um... I don't have a clue, Atherin; you've got the best chance out of all of us..." Ibeyla said, trying to shove Obscura off of her bed. Atherin pulled his bag of candy onto his bed and stretched out on his bed. He flipped it to the beginning of the Vareix section and popped a piece of rock candy into his mouth. He began the laborious task of trying to make heads or tails of the thing.

"While you're working on that, do you want me to go see if they have anything else? Preferably in English?" Ibeyla suggested. "It might help. I doubt that they have anything in it but could you also check for vampire texts?"

"Okay, I'll be sure to check..." Ibeyla said, leaving the room. Ibeyla went back to the library, and found two more books- one in English of Organoid species, and one in the vampire language of Organoid legends. She returned back and gave the books to Atherin. "These were the only other one's they had..."

Atherin immediately took the vampire text from Ibeyla and opened it, looking for anything relevant. He had already tossed the other book onto the floor, fed up with it. "I can work with this one, but I'm sure that you two can find something written in the human text." Ibeyla nodded. She and Raven opened the other book and began reading, looking for anything relevant. Atherin scanned the text in the vampire legends book. One legend had caught his eye, so he was reading through this one thoroughly.

Raven had found some useful information. "Atherin, did you find anything? Raven found some that might be useful..." Ibeyla said, looking over at Atherin.

"Just an old legend; about a vampire/Vareix pair that are acting similar to our rogue and his organoid. However, after finishing the legend it turns out that the Vareix organoid was the vampire...."

Ibeyla blinked. "But that isn't possible. Vampires can't transform into Organoids..."

"You miss-understood me; the Vareix organoid transformed INTO the vampire…they were the same person."

Ibeyla cocked her head. "But.... that still doesn't seem possible. I've never heard of a Vareix having that power..."

"...It's an old vampire legend... I mean really old. At least 900 years.... It wouldn't be impossible for a Vareix organoid to live that long...or longer... It's the same with a vampire...our average life span is around 800 years..."

"But... if this is the same, which I doubt, why would the attacks suddenly happen now? They have all occured in the last few weeks..."

"...It could be one of two things... The first of which is that the organoid just recently broke out of its capsule, if it was placed in one. The other is that it could have entered a cold sleep and has finally woken up, if it is in fact something similar to this legend.

"But.... how did the legend end? Did they kill the Organoid? And what color was it?"

"...Not on a good note... The organoid was terribly wounded by the humans who had taken over Porto. With his last breath, before he took off to enter cold sleep in a safe place he vowed that he would get his revenge on the people here when he woke back up... He promised that he would retrace his steps that led him here, killing the same amount of people the first time he made the trip here... It's eerily similar to how our rogue is acting..."

Ibeyla blinked. "Wow... that is oddly similar to how our rouge is acting." she said quietly. "But then again, it could just be coincidence. We don't know for sure. Now, is there a description of this... shape-shifting Organoid in there?" Raven asked.

"Let's see... The legend says that this Vareix was silver and red…and in his 'vampire' form he had red hair that was silver-tipped... That's all that I can make out...the rest of the text has been damaged..."

"That's not our rouge...." Ibeyla said, "... our rouge has amethyst eyes and his Organoid is black... I think we're just dealing with a rogue with his Organoid..."

"Who may or may not have read this legend. It's too similar to be just a coincidence."

"I'm not sure... I mean, there have been vampire-like deaths for months, but they suddenly spiked in the last few weeks...."

"…Some of those were from me..." Atherin said quietly. "But it seems that he's just killing for fun."

Ibeyla shuddered. "I still think we are just dealing with a boy and an Organoid..."

"Whatever the case, they're dangerous. Now, what did you two find?"

Raven handed him the book. "Here..." he said, pointing to the pictures and captions, "... it says here that Vareix have paralyzing venom, and can hypnotize prey with their eyes. Says also that they can see body heat and hear their prey's heartbeat, and that some have the ability to 'melt' and travel in shadows..."

"...I'm not sure on how to combat against the venom, but the hypnotizing can most likely be countered with a strong mental will power, charm for me, but willpower for you. I can't see body heat, but my senses allow me to pick up on the faintest of sounds. Unfortunately, I can't 'melt' into shadows...I can only create fire..."

"I remember my parents had studied a Vareix. They said that Vareix were really dangerous, and that some had even evolved to hunt vampires, which doesn't make sense. But, their spines are sometimes poisoned and that... they keep their victims alive while they eat them..."

"...It's to gain a vampire's power...not just the special power, like creating fire, but physical strength, mental strength, speed, and all that. ...I know that to you it sounds disgusting but, 'feeding' off a victim while they're still alive is actually better for us…"

Ibeyla nodded. "I remember... an Organoid I befriended was Vareix. Her name was Neosa; she was the gentlest Organoid I ever met. She explained all that to me, before she was killed..." Ibeyla trailed off, "... but it does make sense, and if this rogue has a Vareix partner, it could be paralyzing people so he can feed on them while they're alive..."

"...It's not like vampires can't paralyze people either. ...I've...done it a few times..." Atherin trailed off.

Ibeyla blinked. "You... have?" she gulped, "It doesn't matter, that was in the past. Right now we need to focus on capturing the rogue before he and his Organoid do something rash..."

"..." /...Why now? Why now of times and places does my 'hunger' decide that it needs blood and now.../

Ibeyla noticed something was wrong. "Atherin, are you alright?"

"...I'm...'hungry'..."

"Hey, don't be looking at us Dracula..." Raven snapped.

"I'll save you for later." Atherin snapped back. His 'hunger' gave him a slight personality change.

Raven glared back, seemingly unfazed. "Try me, vampire..."

Atherin smirked and allowed his eyes to change to the red that they had been threatening to turn to since earlier today. His hair looked like it had a breeze blowing through it, giving him the demonic look of a vampire from old legends. Before Ibeyla or Raven could do or say anything, Atherin disappeared and reappeared behind Raven, holding Raven's arms behind his back, so he couldn't do anything. He whispered to him; "Don't tempt me." before he was out the door in a swirl of wind.

Raven gulped and sat down, his eyes wide and breathing shallow. Ibeyla sat next to him, and in an instant Shadow was nosing and staring at him, looking for bite marks. "Don't mess with vampires, Raven, you'll live longer..." Ibeyla said. Raven looked at her. "Yeah... I'll keep that in mind..."

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_**Author's Note:**_ ^^; They so did not get off on the right foot, but at least Ibeyla and Raven accept Atherin for what he is. Some back story is revealed and now they're on the search for dealing with the rogue's Organoid. Atherin's gone 'hunting' again but will he nail another human without getting caught? Or will he get caught and cause an uproar? You'll just have to wait and find out! Review Please!!


	5. Rabe

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do not own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, and Playzia do NOT belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37**__._

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel and Eiji belong to __**ME**__. The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if Redai is used without my permission, it was just a name I made up on the spur of the moment. IF you use Jurei then please make note of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ Here it is, chapter 5. The last chapter proved to bring a few more questions than answers, as well as a troubling story. We learned a little more about Atherin, at least some of his culture and we also saw him scare the hell out of Raven. XD What happens next? You'll just have to read on to find out!

Thanks to those of you that Reviewed!!

This is a collaboration fic between Ibeyla and me. We hope that you enjoy reading!!

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Ͽ Rabe Ͼ

Atherin quietly walked down the streets of Porto. His 'hunting' wasn't going so well. It seemed that because of the recent deaths, Porto had put up a curfew... Everyone was to be in their homes or lodging by seven p.m. When he was stopped by a police officer, he showed the man an Imperial signit that he had taken off Raven and said that he was investigating the deaths by going under cover.

Rabe leaned against the wall of a building, watching the few people still awake wander around aimlessly. He saw someone new wander into the market and smiled darkly.

Atherin walked into the marketplace. There were hardly any people here either... He wandered around some more, looking for a victim he could take and no one would miss... He had spotted a boy watching him for some reason and on closer inspection he looked a little...different, somehow. He'd just have to keep a low profile and see what this boy did.

Rabe knew he was being stalked, but he didn't show it outwardly. He stood upright and walked away, turning nonchalantly into a darkened, unlit alley. He leaned against the wall, far out of sight and earshot of anyone else, besides his vampire follower...

Atherin grew a little suspicious when the teen walked into a dark alley. With his vision he could see that the boy was just leaning there as if waiting for something. Now, he was in no way, shape or form stupid when it came to these kinds of things but he was 'starving'. When he had scared Raven he used up most of his reserve energy that he used to keep his 'hunger' under control. He didn't want to follow the boy directly; he'd be giving himself away. He was in luck; the boy turned and started to walk down the alley. He slipped into the same alley un-noticed and tailed the boy a little more. His 'hunger' wouldn't go with this for much longer... His eyes glowed red and he attacked the boy...only to find that he couldn't pierce his neck. He pulled back quickly, trying to determine what this boy was.

Rabe smirked. "What's the matter vampire? Bite off more than you can chew?" he grinned darkly, his fangs showing in the dim light. Before Atherin could escape, he lunged and sank his fangs into his shoulder, his eyes glowing. Before Atherin's eyes, his human form melted away, revealing an extremely powerful Vareix, with jaws clamped onto his shoulder…

Atherin's eyes widen. Not only was _he_ being fed off of, the Vareix was _too_ close to his neck for his comfort. If the organoid wanted to, he could quickly let go and clamp down onto his neck. He needed to get this organoid off him before he was forced into a blood lust or killed. He knew that this would hurt him a lot but it needed to be done. He placed his palms on the organoid's chest and mustered the rest of his energy into melting the organoid's armor. It was working; he was starting to see the insides of the organoid, but he was also starting to burn his hands.

Rabe hissed in rage and released him, narrowing his amethyst eyes. He weaved and swung his head, throwing Atherin into the wall, his demon-like horns cutting him. He lunged and clamped his jaws on his rival's side, injecting venom and began to feed again.

Atherin was fighting the paralyzing venom to the last. He saw the hole that he had made and kicked it, his foot disturbing some of the wires. He tried to start using his near blood lust charm to make the Vareix leave, but it was only working so well.

Rabe hissed, fighting against Atherin's charm. He was very strong willed, and he was determined to eat this vampire alive. Atherin kicked him again, his physical strength a little more powerful due to his near blood lust like state. The paralyzing venom had lost some of its effect, allowing him to move a little more. His hands grabbed the Vareix's jaws and forcefully removed them from his side.

Rabe hissed, slashing at Atherin's chest with his talons. He wasn't about to let his prey escape. Atherin's eyes flashed crimson. He had lost more than enough blood and coupled with his earlier 'hunger' he couldn't help but go into a miniature blood lust or more commonly known as 'severe starvation'. He threw the Vareix into a wall away from him, causing some of the bricks to crack and crumble a little.

Rabe hissed, baring his bloody fangs. He smirked, beginning to sink into the shadows. "Go ahead, run. But I've tasted blood, and I won't stop until I've sucked you dry of blood or eaten you alive..." he hissed, disappearing...

Atherin glared as the Vareix disappeared. He needed blood _now_, or a massive amount of candy to get him where he was before he had been 'fed' off of. He slowly made his way back to their inn room. He hadn't succumbed to his blood lust completely and knew that he couldn't hunt in this condition, least he terrorize the town. Atherin stopped, and leaned against a wall. His breathing was becoming more and more laborious. He didn't know if he'd be able to make it back to the hotel.

Rollo lifted his head from where he was curled up in Ibeyla's lap. He squeaked and scrambled away, flying out the open window, grabbing Atherin's bag when he smelled Atherin's blood. Rollo saw Atherin and screeched. He dove down and landed in front of him. "Atherin!" "Shadow, I'm fine!" Raven groaned; Shadow still upset over Atherin's action. She was still sniffing and nosing him, looking for any sort of wound. "Where do you think Rollo ran off to so fast, Raven?" Ibeyla asked, looking out the window. Raven shrugged. "How should I know?"

Atherin focused on who had called his name. He saw Rollo and tried to tell him something, but it came out in his native tongue; in suppressing his 'severe starvation' he had used his remaining energy and collapsed to the ground.

Atherin pulled the bag over, the contents spilling out onto the streets. He grabbed a pixi stix and tried to get it opened. After a few minutes struggle he got it opened. He managed to get it to his mouth and eat it. He did this a few more times until he had enough energy to get back to the hotel room. He staggered to his feet and picked up his bag, even if some of his candy was still lying on the ground. He and Rollo made their way back to the hotel room, Atherin having trouble getting the door to open.

Ibeyla heard someone fiddling with the door. Sensing it was Atherin, she opened it and gasped. "Atherin! Dear Eve! What happened?!"

"...V-Var... Ki-Killer..." He struggled to say in the human tongue.

"Dear Eve... Atherin, you're injured and bleeding everywhere. Come inside now..." Ibeyla said, shutting the door and helping him to one of the beds, laying him down. Rollo nosed his cheek and whined loudly in sadness.

Atherin twisted so he was on his side, facing away from them. He considered himself dangerous at the moment and didn't want to hurt them…even if he did like to scare them a little.

Ibeyla took the towels from the bathroom, pressing them against Atherin's shoulder, side and chest, trying to stop the bleeding. Atherin pushed her attempts at trying to stop his bleeding. It wouldn't stop bleeding until his wounds sealed up. He popped a rock candy into his mouth to try and get his wounds to seal.

Ibeyla huffed. "Atherin, I'm just trying to help. And you can't bleed all over the place, because whatever attacked you could track you!"

"...Var-reix... Our kill... is an...org...noid..."

"A Vareix? Well... it definitely looks like a Vareix got a hold of you..." Raven said as he stood beside Ibeyla. "Atherin, did it follow you?"

"...N-Not his...c-cond-dition... But...will when...recovers... C-Could use…l-lure to…b-base…"

"Shush Atherin. Save your energy. We'll think of a plan later, right now we need to get you recovered..." Ibeyla said, laying a fresh towel on his shoulder.

"...Could...get m-mineral? …Stave...off 'h-hunger'..."

"What Atherin?" Ibeyla asked, not understanding what he was trying to say.

"...M-Mineral...from ceme…tery..."

"Raven, can you go get it? I need to make sure Atherin doesn't bleed to death..." Ibeyla said. Raven shrugged and started to walk out. "Umm... what does it look like?"

"...R-Red...glows in…moonlight..."

"Okay..." Raven said. Shadow immediately followed him out. He walked to the cemetery, and saw the glowing mineral in the ground. He dug a few pieces up, but froze, hearing something. Shadow growled and launched at something, a person, and pinned him to the ground. It was Rabe, the killer. He was about to call to Shadow, when Rabe vanished into the ground, melting into the shadows. "C'mon Shadow, let's hurry back..." Atherin and Ibeyla waited for Raven to return. He'd have to craft the mineral himself, but at least if he held onto it, he'd be able to keep his 'hunger' under control.

Raven literally ran the rest of the way back, slamming the door behind him. Shadow curled up on the bed, seemingly unfazed. He tossed the mineral to Atherin. "There, happy now? That other damn vampire about nailed me, so that stuff better work..."

"…He's…not a real…vampire. He's a…Vareix organoid...that transforms into a vampire... Like the legend..."

"Well... he almost got me. I don't care what he is; he tried to sneak up on me..." Raven said, crossing his arms and sitting beside Shadow on the bed.

"Sorry... He might…have thought that it was me..." Atherin said as he held onto the mineral, his 'hunger' diminishing and his breathing getting better.

Raven blinked. "Well... don't expect me to be taking a hit meant for you..." he said, crossing his arms. Ibeyla threw a pillow at him. "Will you just keep quiet? You aren't helping!!"

"...It's alright. I deserved…that comment after the stunt I pulled earlier." Atherin said as he sat up, regardless of Ibeyla trying to push him back down. "If we're gonna…make it back to base alive…we're gonna haveta think about our next…course of action... And possibly have some…back up come in from a friend of mine..."

Ibeyla cocked her head slightly. "A friend? But... besides Rollo you were alone..."

"...This friend wasn't…traveling with me when I met you. He went to go find something..."

"To find what, Atherin?"

"Something called Myrrh."

"Myrrh? What the Helkat is that?" Raven said.

"...Myrrh is a…mythical dew that is basically the embodiment of forgotten memories..."

"... Never heard of it..." Ibeyla said.

"...I'm not even sure…that it actually exists... It's just that...I needed something to look for or to do. It's kinda hard…to fit in with people when I have to…'eat' my neighbors... It's just something that…my folks were talking about…a few days before the massacre... I can call my friend back; he's needed here…more so than looking for something that might not even exist."

"Then call him.... we need all the help we can get...." Raven said.

Atherin's eyes flashed red again for a few minutes. He was silent and looking off into space. Raven was 'slightly' afraid that he was going to attack, but he didn't. His eyes turned back to lavender and he said; "There. He'll be here by 3 am."

Raven quickly sat back down, Shadow curling around him and glaring at Atherin. "Atherin... making Shadow upset is something I strongly discourage..." Ibeyla warned, "And what did you just do?"

"It's not like I meant to scare him…this time… But to answer your question, I called Azel."

"Azel?" Ibeyla asked cocking her head. "Who the Helkat is that?" Raven asked, glaring at Atherin for his comment.

"My organoid."

"You have an Organoid?" Ibeyla asked.

"Yeah… Why?"

"No reason, I just, didn't know you had one..."

"...We've been good at…making sure neither the Republic…nor the Empire found out about him. But as we're in a dire situation...I guess it can't be helped..."

"Better him here than anywhere else. I don't want to get eaten by an Organoid, personally..." Raven said. "Don't worry Atherin; I won't put Azel in the official report." Ibeyla assured him.

"...That's good to know, but…if your orders are to bring him back to base…alive, you'll need us there to make sure he doesn't…escape and kill you. Azel'll be found out about... Besides...don't your superiors...I dunno know, check in on you? They'll see him before hand... He's not exactly...small..."

"Well... Karl sometimes checks in every couple of days in his Zaber Fang to make sure we're alright, but if it means protecting your friend, he won't report Azel. He's one of the 'good guys', like us Atherin; he won't turn you or Azel in. He didn't turn me in when he found out I was Zoidian, so he'll do the same if he finds out what you are..."

"Are you sure about that? I have to kill people in order to live. Would he really turn a blind eye to a creature that feasts on the blood...and sometimes flesh...of the living?"

"Major Schubaltz will understand, alright? Look at Raven. He's killed lots of people, and Karl doesn't think any different of him. You'll be no different. After all, you've helped us so much already; if not for you, Raven and I could be dead right now. I'm sure he'll give you a chance. After all, it's not your fault you have to kill..."

"...I wouldn't be put under…surveillance would I? Or would he just assign you two to 'babysit' me?"

Ibeyla laughed. "He wouldn't put you under surveillance. He'd keep you with us, because we'll know what to do around you and what you are. That way, no one else will figure it out."

"That's good. I really don't want…to have to repeat everything that I've told you two to someone else...as they might not be so…understand… And if that were to happen…I might really be inclined to 'eat' them."

"Now, if you do end up staying with us, you won't be able to eat people in the base. People will suspect things. Can't you... drink blood from like the hospital?"

Atherin made a disgusted face. "...Bleah... Gross… Believe me I've tried that. It's disgusting..."

"Yeah, but it's better than getting caught..." Raven said.

"...It makes me sick..."

"Oh…well... that's a problem... what about animals?" Ibeyla suggested.

"You could give me 100 cows…and I can drain them dry and it wouldn't even dent my 'hunger'."

"Strange... that's what Luna did, along with candy..." Ibeyla muttered, "What can we do? You won't be able to eat anyone, except maybe prisoners sentenced to be killed... no one would investigate that..."

Atherin thought for a moment. He knew that there was some way to 'feed' and not kill his host, but there were two problems with that... The first was he couldn't remember what he needed to keep from killing and the second was that his host had to be willing to let him 'feed' off them... Ibeyla notice him thinking and cocked her head slightly. "Is something on your mind, Atherin?"

"Was just thinking about how to keep my 'condition' behind closed doors..."

"Oh... well that's top priority. We need to assure Karl that you aren't dangerous to everyone..."

"I know there's a way for me not to kill, but I don't remember part of it..."

"That doesn't do us much good, Dracula..." Raven said, leaning back against Shadow's side.

"But I haven't told you the best part yet!"

"Best part? What best part?" Raven asked, crossing his arms.

"What I do remember is that my friends have to 'donate'."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Don't look at me, Dracula. I have no intention of letting you bite me on the neck and drink my blood. Especially not after that little stunt you pulled earlier..."

"It doesn't have to be the neck, it can be a wrist. And besides...would you let Ibeyla do it all by herself?" Atherin asked, knowing he'd just played his 'guilt card'.

Raven narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth. "... Fine... but I swear to Eve, if you kill me or hurt Ibeyla, Shadow will kill you..."

"Now why would I want to hurt or kill an easy meal? Besides...I think I told you earlier that I'd save you for later... I intend to fulfill that promise."

Raven gulped slightly, breaking eye contact. Shadow nosed him and snarled at Atherin, narrowing her eyes at him. "Atherin, you don't mean that, do?" Ibeyla asked quietly.

"Naw. I'm just messin' with him. Judging by his and Shadow's reactions, I'm doin' a good job."

Ibeyla laughed. "I'd watch it; Shadow doesn't have much of a sense of humor when it comes to her 'little' Raven..."

"She needs to chill then. I'm not the one she needs to be worried about hurting him."

Ibeyla nodded. "But try telling that to her. After your little show off earlier, she hasn't let Raven three feet out of her sight. You freaked her out... and since she sees Raven as her hatchling, she took it personally..."

"She'll get over it. Compared to what that Vareix could do to him my stunt would be called child's play."

Shadow hissed and curled around Raven. She was not happy. "Shadow is just protective of 'her' Raven, that's all... been that way since Shadow found him..."

"I can understand that. Azel's kinda similar...though he doesn't keep me on a 'leash'…at least not a very tight one…"

"Shadow does, but that's for Raven's own good... Obscura is the same, but that's because she... she lost her hatchling, and sees me as her own..."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories for her." As Ibeyla was just about to answer him someone made a noise just out side their door...

Ibeyla got to her feet and walked to the door. She looked through the peep hole and quickly opened the door. "Karl!!" she said happily, hugging him. "Hello Ibeyla..." he answered as she let him go. Ibeyla invited him in and shut the door. Raven merely tilted his head to show he knew he was there. "Karl, you remember Atherin?"

Atherin had been eating candy the entire time since he got back. It was now a common thing for Ibeyla and Raven to see, but to Karl…he had thought it was just for that one time. Atherin took his candy out of his mouth to be able to talk without a slur. "Umm...it's Shoe-boltz right? It's good to see you again. We've been able to identify the killer."

"You can just call me Karl when we are away from the base like this, Atherin. So, what did you lean about the killer?" he said, sitting down on the same bed as Raven.

"He's a shape-shifting Vareix Organoid. In his 'zoidian' form he takes on the appearance of a 16 year old boy with shoulder length ebony hair and lavender eyes. In his organoid form, his true form, he's a black Vareix with silver and red horns."

Karl blinked in surprise. "So... let me get this straight. We're dealing with an Organoid... that can change into a human? Great... this'll make things that much more difficult..." he sighed.

"...Well... I wouldn't exactly classify his humanoid appearance as 'human'."

"True... but this still means he can hide in plain sight, so to speak. What do you suggest we do, Atherin? You seem to be the only one that's seen him..."

"...I've only seen him 'cause he attacked me. It still hurts like hell..." Atherin grumbled as he tentatively felt where the puncture wounds were. "As for suggestions...moving out of Porto would be a good start... I don't know how much longer he's gonna stay here, but he will kill us if we stay much longer... As far as I know, he's already 'marked' me for death, but he might go after Raven too, since Raven managed to escape him as well..."

Karl turned to Raven. "He went for you too?" he asked. Raven nodded. "Yeah... he tried to sneak up on me in the cemetery while I was digging up some of that glowing stuff for Dracula over there..." he gestured to Atherin, "... but Shadow attacked him before he could get to me..."

Atherin shot a death glare at Raven, his eyes once again turning red, showing that he wasn't a happy camper and also proving that he was indeed someone like 'Dracula' to Karl. "That wasn't to be revealed 'til after we had captured the Vareix. You...just got front row seats to a world of hell..."

Karl's eyes went wide and he gulped. "Atherin... you're... a vampire?!" he stuttered, obviously more than a little concerned for his safety. "Raven! You were supposed to keep your mouth shut!!" Ibeyla snapped, tossing another pillow at Raven. "What? We were gonna tell him eventually, so why not get it over with?" Raven protested.

Atherin grinned a little evilly. "There was a reason as to why we were gonna wait...but I guess you don't mind 'donating' sooner than we had planed..."

Ibeyla sighed. "Atherin, don't start..." she said quietly, "... you and Raven can settle this later, for now just behave yourself..." she said, indicating that she didn't want him to blow his chance to make a good impression on Karl. Raven gulped and shied away, breaking eye contact again.

"Fine, fine. I'll be 'good'." He said digging into his bag for another piece of candy,

Karl was still more than a little nervous. "So... um... what is our plan of action to take this Organoid down?"

"Wing it for now. He's pretty strong; even when he's in his weaken state... There isn't much we can do 'til we find his weakness."

"Should we fall back? You're pretty badly injured, and Raven almost got attacked. It would be best to retreat and get our thoughts together, before one or all of us gets killed..."

"My injuries are almost sealed; it's blood loss that I'm suffering from... So, falling back would be good...oh! We have to wait for Azel to get here though... If we leave and he finds out that I'm not here, he'll surely rampage around the planet until he finds me..."

Karl narrowed his eye slightly. "Alright, you, Ibeyla and Raven can wait for Azel. I'll get in my Zaber and go scope out a place for us to meet up and make a plan. Ibeyla, I already paid for the night when I walked in, so all you guys have to do is wait for Azel..." Atherin ignored the skeptical look he received from Karl. It was like Ibeyla had said earlier... It's not his fault he's a vampire..."

"Alright... as soon as Azel arrives, get in your Zoids and follow my beacon." Karl said, getting up and leaving the room. As soon as their door had closed and Atherin couldn't hear Karl's footsteps anymore he turned his attention to Raven. "Welcome...to the gates of Hell."

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_**Author's Note:**_ Well…at least they know who their killer is now. ^^; And now Karl knows that Atherin is a vampire thanks to Raven's slip up, and now he has to deal with a sadistic vampire. ^^ Will Karl accept Atherin as easily as Raven and Ibeyla had? What'll be their next course of action now that they now who their killer is. And what is their killer after and when will he strike again? You'll just have to wait and find out!! Review Please!!


	6. In the Republic

_**Disclaimer 1: **__I do not own zoids. So there. XP_

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, and Playzia do NOT belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37**__._

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel and Eiji belong to __**ME**__. They towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if Redai is used without my permission, it was just a name I made up on the spur of the moment, but if you use Jurei please make note of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ Here it is, chapter 6. In the last chapter Atherin gets attacked by a Vareix organoid named Rabe, who's the killer that Raven and Ibeyla have been looking for. Raven blew Atherin's secret to Karl and Atherin promised that Raven would regret that action. ^^;

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Ͽ In the Republic Ͼ

Raven gulped, his eyes widening. He regained his dignity and narrowed his eyes. "Do your worst..."

"Gladly." Atherin said from right behind him. Raven didn't even see him move, not that he thought he'd be able to anyways. He couldn't move either. Atherin had one arm pinned behind his back and the other at an odd angle behind his head. "Thanks for 'donating'."

Raven struggled and fought, trying to get free. He was fully panicked, thinking Atherin was about to kill him. Shadow was roaring and lashing her tail, but she couldn't do anything without hurting Raven as well...

Atherin held on to him, Raven not being able to get out of his grip. "You just sent me an invitation to basically 'feed' off you. I'm 'hungry'; I never got to go 'hunting' earlier. So if you don't want me to go into a blood lust I suggest you stop struggling... I'm not gonna hurt or kill you. I doubt you'll feel a thing."

Raven stopped struggling, but he was far from calm. He was on the verge of completely panicking, but he also didn't want Atherin to kill him. A few minutes passed and Raven didn't feel anything. No piercing of his skin, no blood running down his arm, no anything. Before he knew it he had mobility of his hands again; he checked his wrist immediately, but there were no puncture wounds. He looked over at Atherin, who was now sitting on his own bed, searching to see if he really had 'fed' off him. Atherin just smiled. "There. Now we're even. I wouldn't 'feed' without your full consent."

Shadow was on Raven in an instant, looking him over frantically, thinking Atherin had bitten him. Raven's eyes were wide and his heart was in his throat. He didn't say anything, he was still too shocked to even try and speak.

"I think I've out done myself this time, Azel." Atherin said to thin air. The others were looking at him like he was crazy...which he probably was deep down...

Ibeyla looked from Raven to Atherin. "Atherin... who are you talking too?"

"Azel; he's here. Told me to let go of Raven before his heart exploded from panic..."

"Azel...? Who... Who's that?" Raven stuttered, not thinking his heart could withstand another jolt.

"Azel's my Organoid. He said he'd wait 'til you calmed down before he showed himself...doesn't want to put your nervous system though another panic attack."

"Where is he?" Ibeyla asked, looking around.

"He's right beside me."

Ibeyla looked again. "I don't see him..." Atherin got off his bed and threw his sheets over Azel. The organoid's 7 foot 3 inch form could be seen from under the sheets.

Ibeyla's eyes widened. "He's... invisible?" she said, looking at the sheet in fascination. "Obscura can do that... but how'd he get in?"

"I wouldn't call it going invisible; it's a distortion of time and space around him. As for getting in, a space distorted worm hole."

"Wow... that's amazing..." Ibeyla said in awe, "He can become visible though, now..."

"Alright Azel, it's safe to be visible again." Atherin said, taking off the sheets as a deep ocean blue organoid with silver swirls and lavender eyes appeared out of thin air.

Ibeyla stood and walked over to the Organoid, Obscura following her. "Wow... he's pretty..." Azel leaned down to her height, being at least two some feet taller, to get a better look at Ibeyla. Ibeyla held her hand out, so that Azel could see she wasn't a threat. Azel nudged it, showing that he knew that she wasn't a threat. He had already scanned Atherin's mind about these two and their organoids and was already up to date on what they needed to do.

Ibeyla giggled and patted Azel's snout, rubbing his muzzle gently. "Your Organoid is really pretty Atherin..."

"...As pretty as he may be, weren't we instructed to get to Karl when Azel showed up? We really can't afford to stay here for much longer."

Ibeyla nodded. "Right. Let's get our stuff and meet Karl, before the killer finds us..."

Atherin nodded and got his things packed up. He made sure that he still had the red mineral on him and his bag of candy. He was ready to go. He was a light packer. Ibeyla hadn't brought anything in, and neither did Raven. Ibeyla left a few gold coins on the nightstand to pay for the towels and sheets Atherin had ruined with his blood. Rollo landed on Atherin's shoulder, chirping happily and rubbing his muzzle against his cheek.

They made their way cautiously to the zoids hanger, Atherin keeping his senses as sharp as he could get them. He stopped them once or twice but after clearing the noise as nothing more than something harmless, they reached their zoids and waited for Ibeyla to pick up on Karl's beacon.

Ibeyla flipped a few switches in Spectral's cockpit. "There...he's three miles outside town. C'mon, let's hurry and get there before our killer tracks us down..."

Atherin and Raven followed Ibeyla to where Karl was. Azel was flying behind them making sure that the killer wouldn't follow them. They made the three miles to Karl within twenty minutes. Ibeyla jumped out of Spectral and walked over to Karl. He already had a fire going, and was leaning back against his Zaber's paw. Atherin followed a little behind them. Azel was with Eiji, but keeping a close watch on Karl. His scan revealed that Karl was unclassified yet.

Ibeyla and Raven sat around the fire, tired, as it was past midnight. Atherin sat by Ibeyla, his forehead resting on his knees as they were pulled to his chest. Ibeyla looked over. "Are you alright, Atherin?"

".....'Hungry'....."

"Oh...." Ibeyla said quietly.

"...Never got to 'eat'.... Damn organoid...."

"Would you like some candy? I found a special rock candy, made with the nectar of the Star-Tiger lily. It's really sweet and should help you. My friend Luna used to eat rock candy made with it all the time..." Ibeyla offered him the amber-colored, very expensive, rock candy.

"...Not sure it will help... I already have the mineral... And I loss a lot of blood..... It's difficult for my body to produce its own blood..."

Ibeyla sighed. "Just eat it, it'll help some..." she put the candy in his hand, "Listen, Raven and I will give you some blood later, after Karl leaves, okay?" she whispered just loud enough for only him to hear. Atherin nodded and started to eat the candy that Ibeyla gave him. His body was a little ravenous so he was doing his best from just devouring the rock candy in one bite.

Ibeyla blinked. "Okay... that should hold you off until then..."

Again Atherin nodded, too busy eating to speak out loud. He was waiting for Karl to say something or to hear new orders. Karl sat up. "Alright... does anyone have any ideas on how to bring in or kill this thing?" Karl asked.

"...Bait."

"Bait? What kind of bait?" Karl asked. Raven looked over at Atherin. "Don't even think about it, Dracula...." he growled.

"You and me are already marked for death. He'll come after us more likely than something we set up with prisoners..."

"So what do you suggest, Atherin?" Karl asked.

"....Give me a moment...."

Karl nodded. After a few minutes silence Atherin spoke up again. "...Dr. D.... He's a scientist and does research on organoids... He might be able to make some sort of...battle suit that's resistant to biting...and also... I think Nidhogg poison would work for dealing with the Vareix... If it works on flesh and bone vampires, I would assume that it'd work on a Vareix..."

Ibeyla shook her head no. "That poison doesn't affect Vareix. Vareix are an extremely resilient species..."

"Then what does? You said that your parents studied organoids. Did they mention anything?"

Ibeyla thought. "Umm.... I don't think so. Vareix are very hardy and resilient, I don't think anything really affects them... but if anyone can help us, it's Dr. D…"

"...Joy...back to the Republic..." Atherin said, sounding _very_ enthused.

Ibeyla perked up. "I can get us to the Republic!! Heck, I can get us in the Republic!!" she said happily. Raven sighed and rolled his eyes, falling back against Shadow. "I hate the Republic...."

"....I'm not exactly welcomed there..."

"Don't worry Atherin, I have friends in... high places there..." Ibeyla said slyly, "But Karl, I don't think I'll be able to get you in... I want you to stay here and monitor Porto, okay?" Karl nodded yes in understanding.

"...You gonna contact them in the morning then? Or are you going to be barging into Republic territory with two Imperial zoids and a 'drifter'?"

Ibeyla giggled. "No... My friends won't mind if we barge in... Well, one might, but she won't mind much... I think it would be best if we hurry and get there as quickly as we can..."

"Yeah…I agree on that." Atherin looked to Karl. "...Do you want me to leave Azel here? He can help with monitoring Porto. He'll also be able to let us know if something were to happen to you..."

Karl nodded. "Sure... we can stay on the outskirts, and since the killer doesn't know we're associated, I'll be relatively safe... in the mean time, you guys better get as far away from here as possible..." Atherin turned to Azel. "Azel, code Aoi."

Ibeyla got up. "We need to get moving..." Atherin and Raven followed suit and headed towards their zoids. Azel rumbled an affirmative to Atherin's orders and went to Karl, the organoid towering over him even. Before Atherin climbed into Eiji he turned to Karl again. "Just so you know Azel will follow your orders until I call for him." He then proceeded to climb into Eiji, and followed after Ibeyla and Raven.

Ibeyla lead the way. She opened a link with Atherin and Raven. "Atherin, are you still doing okay? Are you going to need blood tonight?" she asked. Raven looked very unenthused. "...."

"....If I put it off any longer I might really hurt one of you...." Atherin answered, not in his normal 'I'm gonna enjoy this' tone.

"Should we stop and let you feed now?" Ibeyla suggested, slowing Spectral a little. Raven flinched slightly, but didn't say anything else. Atherin nodded. If he waited any longer he really would hurt them, and he didn't want to do that... They accepted him; they were his friends...his only friends...

Spectral stopped and lowered down, Raven's Zoid doing the same. They both climbed out, sitting down next to each other, waiting for Atherin. Obscura and Shadow were curled up around their partners. Both were uneasy…not sure on how much Atherin would take…

Eiji lowered and let Atherin out. When he saw them sitting and waiting for him like they were sacrifices he sighed. "...It's not like either of you are gonna be lambs for the slaughter... It doesn't hurt...and I wouldn't even think about taking from your necks."

Ibeyla nodded. She was calm and relaxed. She'd done it before, with her friend Luna. She held out her hand, but Raven stopped her. "I'll go first...." he said, taking off his glove and rolling up his sleeve.

Atherin suddenly appeared to Raven's left, sitting beside him. He held onto his arm and brought it to the side. He brought Raven's wrist to his mouth but before he bit he told Raven this; "I wouldn't watch were I you." Raven gritted his teeth and looked away, expecting it to hurt horribly. Ibeyla covered Shadow's eyes, holding on to her, to keep her from attacking Atherin.

Atherin sunk his fangs into Raven's wrist; the pain was non-existent, as it just felt like pin pricks. Though it didn't hurt as much as Raven thought it would, it was the sound of Atherin swallowing that got to him. Raven swallowed hard, trying to keep from panicking. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to resist the urge to pull his hand back. Shadow growled threateningly, digging her claws into the sand, her teeth bared. She couldn't see due to Ibeyla, but she could hear, and she wasn't happy.

Another minute passed before Atherin pulled away. He didn't need anymore blood, not for a while at least. The fact that Raven didn't have to pry his fangs out of his wrist was due in part to the red mineral. Now that he thought on it, this was probably the thing that he needed to keep from killing his host, though he couldn't remember the name of it. "I'm finished. Do you want me to seal the puncture wounds?"

Raven pulled his hand back. "No.... I'm fine..." he said quickly, putting pressure on the twin puncture wounds. Ibeyla wrapped his wrist in gauze, and made him drink some of the medicine. Normally he wouldn't have touched it, but he took it without complaint. He was a little dizzy and weak, but the medicine would clear that up. "Atherin, do you need any more?" Ibeyla asked.

Atherin shook his head 'no'. He didn't need anymore for now, and if they didn't tell on him, he wouldn't 'feed' off them until they were stuck babysitting him... "Okay... so should we keep moving?" Ibeyla asked, getting up. Atherin nodded and got up as well. He figured that it'd be a while before Raven spoke to him again...even though he had volunteered...

Ibeyla had to help Raven up. The medicine would take a little time. Shadow was all over him, sniffing at his wound and growling. "Atherin... I suggest you get in your Zoid, before Shadow decides to kill you..." Ibeyla whispered to him, indicating Shadow's behavior. Atherin nodded again and quietly went to Eiji before Shadow even knew that he was gone. Eiji rumbled sadly, sensing and feeling how bad his pilot felt about doing that to him.

Ibeyla helped Raven up into the BFSE, making sure he was strapped in. Within three seconds of being in the cockpit, he fell asleep, exhausted. Shadow merged to the BFSE and would pilot it. Ibeyla got back into Spectral and opened a link to Atherin. "Raven's out cold, so it's just us. Now let's hurry and get to the Republic as quick as we can..."

"Okay..." He answered and flipped off the vid-link. He followed behind Spectral and the BFSE, trying to sift through his muddled thoughts. Ibeyla led the way. She kept Spectral beside the BFSE, keeping it on course. They reached the Guylos/Helic border by morning. Before they crossed it, however, they stopped for breakfast.

Ibeyla started a fire and went to check on Raven. He was still sleeping. She woke him up, and he walked over and sat down near the fire, leaning against now-unmerged Shadow. Ibeyla went to get a few supplies from Spectral.

Eiji let Atherin out of his cockpit, he wasn't looking like his usual 'happy morbid' self. He sat down on the other side of the fire, looking down at the ground. Shadow continued to look Raven over, sniffing and nosing him. Raven was looking down at the ground as well, his eyes half closed, still sleepy from the blood loss.

Atherin noticed Raven's still woozy and sleepy state from last night. He quietly dug around in his bag looking for something that would help. When he found it, he tossed the jumbo sized sucker over to him, the candy rolling into Raven's vision. "Eat it. It'll make the wooziness go away."

"Thanks..." Raven said, popping the sucker into his mouth. It did make him feel better, but he still felt a little sick, from both the earlier blood loss and Ibeyla's medicine.

After a few minutes of an awkward silence Atherin spoke again. "...Just so you know...it's not like I enjoy 'feeding' off others. When I was little, and had no need for it, I thought it was the most disgusting thing in the world. I was appalled to learn that one day I would have to do this..."

Raven looked at him. "Figured you didn't... if you did, you would have nailed me when I snapped at you in the inn..." he said somewhat quietly through the sucker in his mouth, staring into the fire.

"Heh, I'm a vampire that hates blood, but must have it in order to live. ...I guess...I wanted to find Myrrh to see if there were any forgotten memories about a way to not have to. But I have to be realistic...if there was a way, there would be many more vampires and we wouldn't have to hide away. Something that important would have been shared though out our community..."

Raven looked over at him. "True... if you guys didn't have to feed, everyone would be doing it, right?" he said slightly jokingly, continuing to eat the sucker. It was making him feel much better.

"Yes. But even if such a thing existed there would have been a down side to it.... I don't want to even think about the consequences of trying to live a 'normal' human life..."

"Yeah... I bet that would be a shock for you, trying to live without having to hide all the time..."

"I wasn't referring to not hiding... I was referring to the consequences on our bodies and minds..."

"Well... I don't know what to tell you then..." Raven said, chewing on the sucker.

Atherin chuckled. "Glad to see that you're feeling better. That's the kind of response I'd expect from you anyways."

"Yeah? Well... the sucker helped. Thanks..." he responded, tossing the chewed stick into the fire.

"It's nothing. Your organoid probably wouldn't have let me near you again last night to try and give it to you. That and the fact that you fell asleep immediately didn't help either."

"I couldn't help it, I was tired..." Raven shrugged, "... and you could have asked Ibeyla. Shadow listens to her too. But, Shadow won't do anything without me telling her too. She may have acted like she was going to attack you, but she wouldn't have without me telling her to, which I wouldn't have..."

"But you already had told her. When you found out that you and Ibeyla would have to 'donate'. And I quote; '...fine...but I swear to Eve, if you kill me or hurt Ibeyla, Shadow will kill you…'"

Raven rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Hey, you didn't kill me or hurt Ibeyla, so Shadow wouldn't have hurt you. She would have made her unhappiness known, by all means, but not hurt you..."

"I would re-word that then. Technically, when I bite I am hurting you."

Raven shrugged. "Hey, I asked for it, didn't I?"

"Yes." Atherin answered smugly.

Raven mock glared at him. "Well... I knew what was coming to me. And besides, after how I treated you at the inn, I deserved it..."

"What's this!? You're actually being nice to me!?" Atherin smirked.

Raven mock glared at him again. "Yeah, well... don't get used to it, Dracula..."

"Back to that now are we? I guess you're feeling well enough if you have the energy to insult me." Atherin smiled.

Raven rolled his eyes. Shadow plodded over and laid down behind him, looking him over. Ibeyla came back a few minutes after their 'talk' had ended. She didn't quite know what had happened while she was gone, but both boys were in a far better mood than when she had left them. Ibeyla sat down next to Raven, setting down her bag of fruit. She handed him an orange. "Eat it Raven..." she said, and she looked over to Atherin."Would you like a candied peach or something?"

"Nope, I'm good. A piece of my candy somehow got coated in Raven's blood. I'll be good with that." He said, declining Ibeyla's offer.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Somehow…? Sure Dracula... whatever you say..." he said, sneaking the orange back into Ibeyla's bag.

Atherin raised an eyebrow at him. "Now why would I purposefully coat just one piece of candy?"

Raven rolled his eyes again. "Yeah... if you had really tried, you'd have coated all your candy with it... right, Dracula?" he sneered.

"You bet." He answered without missing a beat. Raven glared at him, crossing his arms. Shadow lifted her head and looked at Atherin, snorting slightly.

"You asked. I answered." Raven rolled his eyes, glaring at him again.

"Would you have preferred if I had lied then?"

"No..." Raven said, still glaring at him.

"Then I don't see why that makes you angry. Do you honestly believe I would do something like that!? Or can you not tell when I'm joking around?"

Raven rolled his eyes again. "I knew you were joking. Still doesn't mean it's out of your thoughts of doing it…"

"If I had though about it don't you think my candy would already be coated with other people's blood?"

Raven thought about it. "True... but you could always start..."

"...Could, but won't. It means I'd have to kill twice as much. One body to sate me and a few others to coat my bag of candy that I have to restock every week and a half, I don't see it happening."

Raven nodded. "Well... that's good to hear..."

"I think we've 'argued' about my personal blood preferences enough. Isn't it about time we headed into Republican territory?"

Ibeyla nodded. She packed all the stuff and put out the fire. "C'mon, let's go..." she said, hoping into Spectral. Shadow put Raven in the BFSE. Atherin got into Eiji and followed beside Ibeyla. He was now in a far better mood, now that he knew that Raven didn't hate him. As he saw it they had a weird friendship, one that grew stronger with every insult and mock threat made. Ibeyla lead the way to the Republic. She had called ahead to her friends, so they new she was coming. Atherin and Raven followed Ibeyla. Both were a little nervous about being here, for two completely different reasons. They were both hoping that they wouldn't be 'forced' into contact with someone they knew...

Ibeyla approached the roadblock and opened a link. "We are here for official business with President Camford!" she said, and they immediately stepped aside. Atherin was shocked. She knew the Republic President?! He and Raven followed Ibeyla through the roadblock, the shock starting to subside. Nothing kept him shocked for too long... He mostly did the shocking.

Ibeyla led them into the hanger and jumped out. O'Connell and Herman were waiting for them. "Scott!!" Ibeyla said happily, hugging O'Connell. Shadow jumped out with Raven. Atherin got out of Eiji and stood beside Raven. He wasn't too thrilled about seeing Republican soldiers, but they needed their help. This Vareix was dangerous to both sides.

Ibeyla let go of O'Connell and stepped back. "We need to talk to Louise... it's important..." Atherin and Raven waited to hear what their answer was, they couldn't be turned downed, but she might be busy. There was also the chance that they wouldn't let either him or Raven near the Madam President. Raven for obvious reasons and him because...he was 'suspicious' and he looked like he could be related to Raven...as that thought crossed his mind Atherin couldn't help but mentally snicker.../Oh yeah, that'd be the day hell freezes over./

"Yes, she's been expecting you..." Scott said, turning and leading them to Louise. She motioned to Atherin and Raven to follow. They followed after Ibeyla as O'Connell and Herman led them to Madam President's office. They had a lot of explaining to do...

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_**Author's Note:**_ Looks like Atherin and Raven finally understand each other….a little…^^; Now that they're in the Republic what kind of surprises will await them? What will the Madam President think of their story? Will Dr. D be able to help them with their lack of Vareix knowledge? Review Please!!!


	7. Tag Along

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do not own Zoids. _

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia, and Driacoul do NOT belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37**__. _

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, and Eiji belong to __**ME**__. The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if Redai is used without my permission, as it was just a name that I came up on the spur of the moment. However, if you do you Jurei please make not of it in your disclaimer. _

_**Author's Note:**_ Here we are chapter 7. Last time Atherin and Raven finally started to understand one another. After their 'heart-to-heart' talk, things seem to be getting better between them. Now, they're in the Republic and about to meet the Madam President. What kind of revelations will come to light when they talk to Doctor D?

Warning: In the next few chapters there will be some character bashing. Please do not flame us about it as we know about it obviously. We would like to say that we do not hate any of the characters in this fic.

To iwalkthelight: I can understand your concern about Rollo. This fic first started out as an RP between us, so it was assumed between us that Rollo was with Atherin. I hope this explains what happens to him when he just comes and goes. ^^;

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me.

Thanks to those of you that Reviewed!!

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Ͽ Tag Along Ͼ

They were led into the President's room. She was sitting in her desk, and looked up. "Mrs. Secura! You and your friends are here earlier than expected..." she said, putting away some paperwork. "Now... what was so important?" she asked. "Well... my friend Atherin here has discovered the identity of the killer... he's an Organoid, and we need Dr. D's help to stop him." Atherin shifted a little under the gazes of Madam President , Herman and O'Connell. He didn't like to be stared at! It made him feel 'inhuman'...even though he technically was...

"Atherin... how did you figure out that the killer was an Organoid?" Mrs. Camford asked, intertwining her fingers and looking at him calmly. Ibeyla turned to him and mouthed 'make something up!'

"...Well...I saw him attack someone when I was getting something to eat..."

"Really? How did you manage to escape?"

"...I'm a very fast runner..."

"Well, you're very lucky..."

"...Thanks...though I don't want to run into him again anytime soon..."

"I bet... alright, Dr. D is down in the lab. Captain O'Connell will escort you there..." she said, and Scott ushered them out. He led them down to the labs. Raven was not at all happy. He was with a bunch of Republicans, his enemies. His arms were crossed and he kept his mouth shut, not wanting to socialize at all. They followed O'Connell down to the lab that Dr. D was working in... Though they had some...unexpected company...

Dr. D looked up from his 'lecture' and spotted Ibeyla. He waved happily to her signaling for her and her friends to come join them. The others in the group looked back to see who Dr. D was motioning over and saw...Raven. They didn't even register Ibeyla or Atherin. The one boy with spiky black hair shouted; "RAVEN!! What're you doing here!?" Atherin leaned closer to Raven's ear and whispered a happy question with a smirk on his face; "Is he a friend of yours?"

Raven gave Atherin a death glare that could melt concrete. "Atherin... if you know what's good for you, you'll shut up _now_..." he hissed, narrowing his eyes. Ibeyla was talking and had brought Dr. D over. "Atherin... can you describe the Vareix to Dr. D?" Before answering Ibeyla he spoke to Raven again, not caring about his threat. "Aww...you just missed out on a great opportunity, but I'll shut up about the matter...for now..." Atherin then turned to Ibeyla and Dr. D. "He was black, had...red and silver horns, and lavender eyes." Atherin answered hoping that that was what she wanted to tell him. Van was trying to get to Raven in the background but O'Connell was stopping him.

Raven glared at Van, thankful O'Connell was keeping Van from him. "Atherin, can you tell Dr. D about the abilities the Vareix used?"

"...Ummm...hypnosis /That didn't work on me…/...paralyzing venom /It had some effect but not enough to keep me down…/...brute strength /Which still hurts like hell!!/ and...he 'melted' in to the shadows /Which was not good…/..." Atherin answered listing them in order as they happened. It was getting a little difficult for O'Connell to keep Van where he was and not come barging into their conversation. If things continued like this, Van would break free of O'Connell and make a bee line to Raven.

Raven was getting annoyed. Shadow had followed him, and hissed at Van. Ibeyla and Atherin were still talking to Dr. D. "So Dr. D, do you have anything that we can use against him?" she asked.

"...Hrmmm... Not at the moment, but I can make you something that might be effective against him, but I'd need you to go find a metal called Damascus. It's a strong metal that'll be resistant to his bite and his brute strength, but it's also very light, so it doesn't hinder movement. With some manipulation on my part I can transplant it into a battle suit that'll be virtually indestructible!! Haha!

"Damascus? I think I've heard of that..." Ibeyla said, "Where can we find it? And how much will we need?"

"Hrmm...I believe it can be found in a mountain range a little pass the Wind Colony... As for how much we'll need it depends on how many battle suits I need to make..."

Van had finally broken free of O'Connell and made a dash to Raven to either yell in his face or slug him...or both, but before he could reach Raven, Atherin stepped in his way and held onto his shoulders. "Ah ah ah. You weren't invited into this conversation. Buh bye now." He said as pushed Van backwards, Van being momentarily stunned fell on his butt, just staring at Atherin.

Raven cracked up laughing. "Thanks for the save Atherin... I owe you one..." he said. Shadow walked over to Van and stood over him, her eyes narrowed, whipping her tail and hissing loudly.

"No problem Raven. It was my pleasure." He replied, chuckling at the look on Van's face. Van mean while was looking from Raven, to Atherin to Shadow not knowing which he should focus on or try to get away from. Then he heard something about the Wind Colony.

Ibeyla turned and walked back to Raven and Atherin. Shadow turned and nuzzled her hand, making sure she was alright. All the Republicans around had made her anxious. "I'm fine..." she said, patting her muzzle. "Alright Raven, Atherin, we need to head to the Wind Colony...."

"Wait! You never told me how many I needed to make!!" Dr. D shouted before they could leave.

"Umm.... one or two, Atherin?" Ibeyla asked

"One. We'll only need one. Dr. D…? Could you take care of Rollo for us? It's gonna get even more dangerous from here on in…" Atherin answered/asked. "Alright then, then you need to bring back about...25 pounds. As for what it looks like it's a black metal with red glowing spots on it. And of course I'll be happy to watch after Rollo. Happy hunting!" Dr. D said as he went back to work, taking Rollo from Atherin's shoulders. "...Alright, let's get to our zoids before anything else happens..."

Ibeyla and Raven followed Scott as he led them back into the hanger. "Alright, so we're headed to the Wind Colony..." Ibeyla said, hopping in Spectral. Raven fused with Shadow and got into the BFSE. Atherin got into Eiji and they started on their way to the Wind Colony...however...an obstacle was standing in their way... A big blue obstacle...

Ibeyla stopped and so did Raven. "Van? Is something wrong?" Ibeyla asked innocently. She was friends with Van somewhat, so he wouldn't attack her. Raven was nervous, and his BFSE shifted nervously.

"What business do YOU have in Wind Colony?" Van demanded of Raven.

"We're looking for a type of metal for Dr. D, that's all Van..." Ibeyla answered, moving Spectral between Van and Raven.

While Van was busy being suspicious, even of Ibeyla a little, Atherin had opened up a com-link with only Raven. "Do you want me to 'eat' him? You know that he's gonna follow us..."

Raven laughed. "I want to say yes badly, but no..." he said, knowing that killing him would get every Republican soldier on their tail.

"Can I scare him at least? He looks easier to scare than you. I can probably sneak up behind him and say 'Boo!' and he'd freak out."

Raven smirked much too evilly. "By all means..." he said.

Atherin flipped the com-link off with Raven and opened one to all their zoids. "Alright, Van. 'Cause I already know that you're gonna follow us no matter what we say you might as well come with us, but just until we reach the Wind Colony. So...let's 'try' to get along?" Van tried his hardest to glare at Atherin, but it didn't do much good. He silently followed them nonetheless.

Ibeyla led the way, moving slow enough for the others to keep up. It was a pretty silent day except for the occasional insult or two that Raven and Atherin said to each other. Raven wasn't about to talk to Van and Van was afraid he'd get his head torn off if he so much as spoke.

Ibeyla led the way, but it was getting late. "Alright guys, you wanna set up camp for the night?" she asked, stopping Spectral in the perfect spot for a camp.

"Yeah, my legs are starting to ache from sitting in Eiji almost all day." Atherin replied stretching out and listening to Eiji whine about the same thing. Van only nodded an unseen 'yes', still to afraid at the moment to speak. He had heard Raven and Atherin insulting each other and he didn't want to become their target for such verbal abuse.

Ibeyla had started a small fire, and Obscura was sniffing at Van, licking and nosing him. Raven was sitting next to Atherin, staying as far away from Van as possible. "So Dracula, you wanna scare Van out of his wits?" he whispered, smirking.

"I think I'm scaring him by just looking at him," Atherin whispered back as he watched Van watch them and then flinch. "Or he thinks were plotting something against him. I say let him sweat a little more...just...a little," Atherin's hesitating and smirking as he spoke with Raven was having the desired effect on Van. After tonight, he doubted that Van would ever have a peaceful night again... He'd be forever looking under his bed for monsters.

Ibeyla walked over and hit both Raven and Atherin with her pillow. "Stop scaring Van you two!!" she snapped, glaring at the two of them. She huffed and walked over to Spectral, getting out her bag of fruit.

"I wasn't scaring him!" Atherin called after her, but in an undertone to Raven, "Yet."

Raven started to laugh quietly. "If you managed to scare me witless, imagine what you could do to Van..." he said just loud enough for Atherin to hear.

"But I can't reveal to him that I'm a vampire... I have to scare him as the happily morbid person I am... Perhaps a campfire story would be good? We can scare…!! Oops, I-I mean 'share' some..."

Raven snickered. "Yeah, tell some morbid story. I know! That legend about Driacoul, the shape shifting Vareix that ate people alive! That'll scare him good."

"Heh, I can make it morbid alright, but first, is getting us all around the campfire to tell this thing....now...let me see... Ah! I've got it!" Atherin whispered. He stood up and walked over to Van, who was _highly_ suspicious of him. "Hello Van." "What do you want?" "Just to get a better introduction than from earlier today and to see if you wouldn't mind having a truce with Raven.... It wouldn't do us any good if you two got into a fight and were to kill one another. So...can we talk about it by the fire?" Van gave it some thought before he slowly nodded and followed Atherin over to where he and Raven were sitting. "Now Raven, remember that 'truce' we were talking about? Van doesn't mind forming one." Atherin said as he gave Raven a grim smirk that Van couldn't see.

Raven nodded and returned the smirk. "That's good; I don't feel like getting in a scrap right now. Atherin weren't you about to tell that delightful little tale about Driacoul the Vareix?" he said, his voice hinting at what he was really thinking.

"Driacoul the Vareix...?" Atherin asked as if he had forgotten about, it had almost fooled Raven, if he hadn't of seen Atherin's eyes turn red for a brief moment. "Oh! That story. Yeah, hold on. I need some candy first." Atherin said as he pulled out a piece of rock candy that looked oddly stained with blood.

Raven elbowed him slightly. "Not the ones with the blood..." he whispered harshly, "... you don't want him to figure it out, Dracula..."

"Fine. I'll save my 'special' piece for later." Atherin whispered back and pulled out a different piece. Luckily for them, Van had been too busy watching Shadow to notice their little exchange. "Hey Van! You gonna listen to the story or have a staring contest with Shadow? 'Cause I can tell ya now, you're not gonna win." Van pulled his attention back to Atherin, waiting for the story to start.

"...and then Van took his men to find and try to slay Driacoul when he had found the demon of an organoid feasting on his still living sister. Her entrails had been ripped clean out and some had been still hang out of his mouth. The only reason she was still alive was because her heart and lungs were still intact. When Van tried to save his sister, Driacoul dug deeper into her chest and pulled out her still beating heart and swallowed it right in front of him. After her funeral is when Van had decided to get revenge on the demon. So after weeks or searching...."

Van was biting his nails as he listened to Atherin's story, he was terrified!! He had thought that this story about Driacoul would be fun! But the worst part was that he couldn't bring himself to tune out what Atherin was saying. He wanted to know what happened next!

Obscura crept over and touched Raven with her tail, turning him invisible. He and Obscura got up and crept behind Van; he was too scared to notice them. He waited for Atherin's signal....

"...and after their long, bloody and agonizing fight, Van looked triumphant. Driacoul was but mere minutes from death and Van was going to enjoy watching him die. However, to Van's absolute horror, Driacoul stood back up and made a ragged speech and promise. '...Van...' he said, 'you and your filthy people have done nothing but hunt me. Your people took over Porto, my soon to be grave, but I can assure you of this. I will rise again and I will make this same voyage and kill the same amount of people as before but when I get to Porto...it will have a different ending... For next time...'" Atherin paused slightly, giving Raven a quick look 'cause he could sense him, telling him that after his next few words he was to scare Van. "'...YOU WON'T BE HERE!!!'"

Obscura roared right next to Van's ear and Raven tackled him, sending them tumbling.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Van screamed bloody murder when Raven tackled him to the ground. Atherin was laughing so hard he couldn't breath and he had tears running down his face.

Raven was on the verge of tears he was laughing so hard. He stood up, but quickly fell over, unable to stand because he was laughing so hard at Van's expression. Obscura was rolling on the ground, bellowing in laughter.

"I-I c-can-n't b-rea-athe!!" Atherin gasped out, trying to laugh and inhale air at the same time. He had fallen to the ground when his sides felt like they were on fire. Van was too scared to do anything more than just gape at them.

Ibeyla heard the commotion and jumped out of Spectral from where she had been tuning the radar. She walked over and stared at the scene. "What's going on here?!"

"N-N-Noth-thin'..." Atherin answered, still trying to get air into his lungs. Ibeyla narrowed her eyes. Raven was crying he was laughing so hard, but had managed to at least sit up. Shadow was whining, thinking Raven was crying because he was hurt. Obscura was about to die, she was laughing so hard.

Atherin couldn't say any more. His sides hurt, he couldn't breathe, his eyes were watering and the mental image of Van's expression kept popping up, making him go into another fit of giggles. He too had managed to sit up. Van still hadn't said anything; he was trying to get his heart to stop pounding in his chest.

Ibeyla didn't even try to get involved. "Boys... what's wrong with 'em?" she muttered under her breath. Raven managed to stop long enough to get beside Atherin. "That was great! Awesome plan Dracula!" he said, still laughing.

"I know. He's still stunned, but now my cheeks hurt..."Atherin complained, trying to get the dull pain out of his cheeks because he had been smiling and laughing for a good while now. Raven managed to calm himself down. Shadow was still fussing over him, thinking he was hurt.

Van finally managed to find his voice again, 'it' having left him when he was scared stiff. "T-That w-wasn't funny you guys..." he stuttered. "Yes it was! I haven't laughed like that for years!" Atherin said.

"Yeah Van! You should have seen your face when I tackled you!! I thought you were gonna piss your pants!!" Raven broke out in laughter again, falling against Shadow.

Van's face turned red from embarrassment. He had let them get the better of him and had scared him shitless. He was never going to live this down. Either Raven or Atherin would remind him of this though out this journey.

Raven managed to calm down, though he had to force himself to keep from laughing. Shadow had given up looking for an injury and he curled up beside him. She wasn't as enthused as Raven and Atherin over Van's reaction.

Atherin had calmed down as well and was happily sucking on a sucker, his blood sugar starting to lower as he didn't eat any candy through out his story. He was a little tired now, but he'd be alright after eating some sugar.

Van was sulking by the fire, he hadn't yet moved. He was angry with himself for letting them play him like that. Raven petted Shadow's snout to calm her down. She was a little on edge, but she didn't do anything besides sniff him.

"You know Raven...she is way to over protective of you." Atherin said as he took his sucker out of his mouth and pointed it at Raven as he spoke to him.

"Yeah I know... but she's been like this ever since I found her when I was a kid..." Raven said, stroking Shadow's muzzle as he spoke.

"...I'm glad Azel isn't like that..." Atherin said just audibly enough for Raven to hear him. He didn't want Van to go running back to the Republicans and telling them that there was another organoid to worry about.

"Yeah, well, it hasn't been a bad habit... it's saved my hide more than once... and she kept me from dying in the desert after my...." Raven stopped and turned away, bad memories coming back

"...Yeah...I'm pretty sure I'm the last person you really want to talk to about it…besides Van." Atherin said as he noticed Van trying to eavesdrop on them, probably trying to find some weakness he could use against them.

Raven shot a glare at Van. "I might tell you later... but not with him around..." Raven said quietly, narrowing his eyes at Van. Shadow hissed at Van, narrowing her violet eyes.

Van diverted his eyes, knowing that he had been caught. Besides...taking a double glare from a killer of a boy and his threatening organoid wasn't one of Van's favorite past times. Atherin had gone back to eating his candy. Now that they had already scared Van, they needed something else to do. With him here they couldn't talk as freely as they had been.

Raven sighed and stared into the fire, leaning back against Shadow. Shadow nosed and sniffed him, still fussing that he had been injured and that was why he had been acting so strange earlier.

"Alright, I can't take just sitting here any more. I'm gonna go get some food for us." Atherin said as he stood up and went to Eiji, leaving Raven _alone_ with Van. Van was trying and failing to hide the fact that he was watching their every move.

Raven didn't say anything, keeping his eyes on the fire. He was _not _interested in even looking at Van, let alone talk to him. Shadow shot death glares at him, not about to let him anywhere her Raven.

Atherin returned a few minutes later carrying utensils that Raven or Van even knew existed. Though...Raven had a feeling he was about to eat some true vampire cuisine, that didn't involve eating a body.

Raven still didn't say anything, and didn't even look at Van. "Hey Dracula, could I have a piece of your candy?" he asked, feeling tired from the earlier events. Atherin tossed him his very heavy bag. "Help yourself. Just don't eat my 'special' piece." Atherin joked setting up his cooking utensils and starting to prep what foods he had brought with him.

"Don't worry, I won't..." Raven said, pulling out another sucker. He popped it into his mouth, and gave another sucker to Shadow to keep her quiet.

"Do you want a piece Van?" Atherin asked, not wanting to be too rude. Van hesitantly nodded, but didn't want to walk over to where the bag was located. Atherin seeing this said; "Toss him a piece for me will you Raven? My hands are kinda...messy..."

Raven nodded and tossed Van a chocolate bar. He closed the bag quickly, so that Van wouldn't see the blood-coated pieces. The boys were silent around the fire, but that would soon change as Atherin had just finished making supper. "Want one?" Atherin asked holding up what _looked_ like a safe eggroll platter to Raven. The smile on Atherin's face said otherwise

Raven took one, and after pulling out his sucker, popping it in his mouth. "Tastes good..." he said, swallowing it. He didn't eat much, so one was enough. He leaned back against Shadow and put the sucker back in his mouth, crossing his arms behind his head.

"Van?" Atherin asked turning to Van. Well...if Raven had eaten one then they must be safe then... After taking one and gingerly eating it, his face lit up. "Say...these are good!" Van said grabbing a few more. Atherin helped himself to a few as well. He missed vampire home cooking...

Raven continued chewing on his sucker, his eyes closed. Shadow was noisily chewing on her sucker.

Soon the plateful was gone, and Van was feeling a little better about Atherin. He wasn't _that_ bad of a guy...weird, but not bad. "...Umm...say Atherin?" Atherin looked at Van and gave him a questioning look. "...Can you um...tell me what was in those things...?" "Sure!" Raven could _hear_ the smile on Atherin's face...and when he thought about it...he _didn't_ want to know what was in them.

Raven tuned out the conversation. He didn't want to know what had been in the food he had eaten, considering what Atherin was. He simply focused on Shadow's loud chewing instead.

After a few minutes had passed Raven thought it was safe enough to see if Atherin was done. When he didn't hear anything, he chanced a look at them. Atherin was grinning from ear to ear and Van...well...Van was _very_ green in the face.

Raven smirked at Van's face. He looked like he was about to get sick. He turned back and closed his eyes again, relaxing against Shadow.

"...Umm...if you'll...excuse me for...a moment...." Van said meekly, as he got up and rushed to the nearest bush, his hand covering his mouth. "They weren't _that_ bad...were they?" He questioned Raven.

"No, I thought they were good..." Raven said, not even opening his eyes.

Atherin hummed a happy note, and started to clean up his mess that he had made. "What're the chances that after tonight Van will go running back to the Republican base?"

"Pretty high..." Raven replied, smirking. He opened his eyes for a moment, but closed them again.

Fifteen minutes later Van returned, still looking a little green. Atherin was again, happily eating some candy, his eyes flittering to different sounds he could hear just out side of camp.

Raven was almost asleep, leaning against Shadow. Ibeyla had wandered back and sat next to Raven, leaning back against Obscura.

Atherin was still wide awake as was Van. He hadn't forgotten about that horrible story that he had heard earlier, and truth be told...he was a 'little' bit scared to go to sleep. "Ibeyla, I'll take watch and then switch with Eiji. You can go on to bed."

Ibeyla nodded. Raven was already asleep. He was still recovering from the earlier blood loss. Spectral was lying next to the BFSE, sniffing at the larger Zoid's face.

Atherin turned to Van. "You can sleep too Van. Nothin' gonna hurt or bite you..." /'Cept maybe me.../ Van only nodded, he didn't trust himself to speak just yet, his stomach still squirming. Raven woke up for a moment when Atherin said that. He could help but snicker.

When Van heard Raven snicker at that comment, he knew that something was up. He was going to go back to base come morning, not thinking he could stand another day being with them. But now, he was going to find out what was going on.

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_**Author's Note:**_ Poor Van. ^^; He's now the target for their cruel, cruel teasing. At least now Atherin and Raven have something in common. XP Now they have to find this Damascus metal and keep Van from finding out what Atherin is. But…what will await them when they reach the mountain range the Damascus is located in?


	8. Sticky Situation

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do not own Zoids. _

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia, and Driacoul do NOT belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, and Eiji belong to __**ME.**__ The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me as well. However, I do not mind if Redai is used with out my permission, as it was just a name I made up on the spur of the moment, if you use Jurei please make a note of it in your disclaimer. _

_**Author's Note:**_ Whoo!! Chapter 8!! In the last chapter we found out what they need to find in order to try and combat against Rabe. And also Van decided to 'keep an eye' on them…which we've already seen didn't work out to well XD

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me.

Thanks to those that Reviewed!!

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Ͽ Sticky Situation Ͼ

Raven forced himself to stay awake, not wanting to fall asleep while Van was still up. Van was still up. He wouldn't admit it, but he was too scared to go to sleep, and he wanted to try and find some things out while the others were asleep. Raven was awake, but his eyes were closed. He was still listening to Van and Atherin, making sure Van didn't sneak up on him or anything. After another hour had passed, Van finally fell asleep. His body had over-ridden his will to stay awake. With in minutes he was snoring. Atherin chuckled, knowing that Van had been trying to out last him.

Raven opened his eyes. "He finally out?"

"By the sound of his snoring I say yes. I doubt that he's trying to trick us with this. Besides, if he does wake back up and we're asleep Eiji will make sure he doesn't get into anything."

"Good... we don't need him running around the republic telling everyone what you are, Dracula..."

"No we don't. If it were anyone else they'd be labeled as crazy, but with him he'd get the right people to listen to him...like the Madam President..."

"Well... Ibeyla could always talk her into thinking Van was just hallucinating from dehydration... Madam President will listen to her..."

"...But...there was a reason why I was heading _into_ Imperial territory.... I'm sure Madam President has had a few papers about it..."

Raven shrugged. "Just don't think about it. Van's too stupid to figure it out anyway..."

"Well let's hope so. I think my 'condition' won't be found out, so long as nothing unexpected happens until he leaves." They soon fell asleep after that, Eiji kept an eye out for anything suspicious. Soon the morning was upon them, and it was time to start another day.

Ibeyla woke up. Shadow yawned and stretched, which woke Raven up. "Hey Dracula, you up?" he said.

"Define 'up'..." came the tired reply, as Atherin sat up, looking for all the world like he had just risen from the dead.

"Dracula, you look terrible..." Raven joked, sitting up and stretching. Ibeyla had already put out the fire, and was packing everything up.

"Thanks. I try my best." came his smart ass reply. "Hey! Van! Wakey, wakey! It's time to get up and go!" Van only mumbled and turned over.

Raven chuckled slightly and got to his feet. Shadow was up as well. "C'mon guys, let's get that metal and quick..."

Atherin stood up, stretching out. As he walked over to Eiji he said this. "Alright Van. You can stay here and let Driacoul eat you for all I care. But at least then you won't be slowing us down." He smirked when he heard Van yelp, and scramble to get up and into Caesar.

Raven and Ibeyla were already in their Zoids. "Okay... the mines are in the Altar Mountains a few clicks north of the Wind Colony..." Raven said, leading the way. Atherin and Van followed, Atherin looking like he was about to go back to sleep or kill someone if they bothered him, he wasn't a 'morning' person, and Van was looking about the same with his hair flying every where.

Ibeyla yawned in Spectral. Raven was wide awake, but would have liked to sleep more. "Alright, we're passing the Wind Colony..."

"'Kay Van, this is your stop. See? We're passing it. We have no business here what so ever." Atherin said as he pointed out the Wind Colony to Van. "Huh?" Van said and looked over, seeing that they were passing the Wind Colony. "Then I'll come--" "Nope. You weren't invited. Bye now!" Atherin said as he took off to catch up to Raven and Ibeyla, having been steering Van towards the Wind Colony.

Raven turned the BFSE's head as Atherin caught up. "I owe you again, Dracula... I don't think I could have survived another hour with Van around..."

"Me either. We can speak freely again, which is good 'cause it's hard pretending to be 'normal' when two of your companions know what you are..."

"Yeah... and Van's real nosy, we're lucky he didn't catch on..." Ibeyla said. "Yeah, because then you would've had to eat him, Dracula..." Raven said, leading the group.

"...No, I wouldn't have...even if I did want to… His friends knew that he came with us. If he didn't return or contact them they would've been hounding us..."

"True, but it would have been worth it..." Raven said, smirking.

"And I doubt his blood tastes as good as yours anyways..." Atherin said, knowing he had pushed Raven's buttons.

Raven rolled his eyes. "If I wake up and find puncture wounds, I'm gonna kill you Dracula..."

"...I don't need to sneak feed off you anyways, you won't find any other punctures besides the one's you 'commission'."

"Good... because if I woke up and found you feeding off me, I would _not_ be a happy camper..."

"...You mean IF you woke up."

Raven narrowed his eyes. "Shadow would have killed you before you got to that point..."

"Do you think she'd let me even _get_ that close? You're talking about it as if I had already dealt with Shadow."

"True... but since I let you close when I'm awake, she doesn't you immediately as a threat..."

"But you'd be sleeping. Hence she sees me as a 'threat'."

"No... Look at Ibeyla; she doesn't even react to her. She doesn't react to you anymore either. So she wouldn't do anything until she knew you were going to hurt me. But that's only if she's actually awake to see it..."

"We could talk about this in circles and it still wouldn't change the fact that I wouldn't hurt you willingly." Atherin laughed, finding it a little funny that he was having such a conversation many of his kind would call 'food'.

"That's good to know..." Raven said, rubbing his wrist subconsciously. "The minds are directly ahead. I'm guessing the Damascus is deep in the mine, so we'll probably need flashlights and such..."

"_You'll_ need flashlights...I won't." Atherin corrected.

"Whatever... but we'll have to be careful, the mines have been abandoned for sometime, so it'll be dangerous. Ibeyla will wait outside, to make sure no one interferes... so Atherin, it'll be just you and me..."

"...Joy....I-I mean yay!!"

Raven rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to enjoy it any more that you. We can't take the Organoids either, the mines aren't large enough for them..."

"...I don't think it'll be too bad... I mean you must have _some_ type of hand held weapon don't you? And me, I am a weapon...."

"I have a knife and a pistol, but a gun isn't much good when you can't see well..."

"...True. I'm not gonna say 'there'll be nothing to worry about' 'cause there most likely will be. Just hopefully it won't be too dangerous..."

"I doubt there's anything down there too dangerous. Maybe a few snakes and spiders, at worst a monitor lizard, but I don't think anything big enough to threaten us..."

"I'm gonna quote you on that, just in case you jinx us."

Raven rolled his eyes. "Well... if I'm wrong, I'll go down first, since _I'll_ be in front, okay Dracula?"

"There are many things I could say about that, but I'll humble up and say 'Sure.'"

"Good... I don't feel like another argument..." Raven said, stopping the BFSE and jumping out. Atherin stopped Eiji and jumped out as well. They waited for Ibeyla before going into the caverns.

Ibeyla lowered Spectral and popped open the cockpit. "I'll stay in here and watch on Spectral's radar. I won't be able to help you guys in there, so _please_ be careful..." she said, tossing Raven a flashlight.

Before following Raven into the cave Atherin grabbed a spare knapsack for them to carry the Damascus in. After securing the bag they ventured into the cave, Raven turning on his flashlight, and Atherin using his fire. _He_ could see just fine, but the farther that Raven could see the better for them.

They were far enough in that they couldn't see the light of day anymore. Raven's flashlight could only do so much, even with the fire. Raven stopped suddenly. "Atherin... do you see that? Is that... human?" he asked, pointing to a long bone on the floor, covered in a strange silky material.

Atherin's eyes narrowed as he studied the bone. "...Yes... Someone wasn't very lucky... It's...recent too...four...maybe five days since it's been here... We'll have to be more careful...there's something in here that loves human flesh just as much as I do..."

Raven sighed. "That's reassuring..." he said, taking the lead again. "I might just make good on what I said earlier, Dracula..." he said, remembering his earlier 'joke'. It didn't seem as funny anymore... Atherin followed behind him, his eyes narrowed looking down the tunnel in front of them, his ears tuned from the way they came from. *CRUNCH!!!* Oops... he stepped on bone...

Raven was so focused looking for a 'monster' in the dark that he wasn't paying attention to where he was going. He took a step forward, and suddenly the ground caved beneath him. He yelped, and vanished as the ground vanished beneath him. He fell over twenty feet into a large cavern, hitting the ground hard, yelping in pain. It was too high for Atherin to jump down safely and to make matters worse; he could hear something moving in the darkness, just out of sight, coming towards him...

Atherin got rid of his Zoidian power. He could see better in the dark anyways. He could see Raven just below him, but if he were to jump in after him, he'd get hurt too as there were numerous sharp and pointy rocks. He was amazed that Raven wasn't impaled when he fell. He could hear something moving towards Raven but he couldn't see what yet, but it did reek of blood. He looked up ahead to see if there was another passage that lead down there. The passage did split up ahead, and the one to the right did slope down a little, so he opted to take that path. He jumped over the hole and raced down the passage, hoping that he could get to Raven before whatever was down there did.

Raven couldn't move. He could hear something moving towards him, but he couldn't get up or call for help. He had landed hard on a rock, breaking at least three of his ribs. He could only groan in pain. He forced his eyes open slightly, and saw a pair of cold, glowing slate-grey eyes, looking directly _at_ him... Atherin continued to run down the passage way. It was sloping more now, but he wasn't sure if this would lead him to Raven. However, in his haste, he tripped over something hard...and metal.... Playzia hissed and raised his head, his blood-red eyes burning in the dark. He snarled and spat at Atherin, trying to hit him with his paralyzing venom...

Raven tried to get up, but collapsed, yelping in pain. His ribs were shattered and he couldn't move. The white creature with the grey eyes moved closer, leaning down and sniffing at him. Thick, clear slime dripped from its opening jaws, the creature hissing deeply. "A-Atherin!" Raven choked out, unable to scream for help. He could only gasp as the Organoid's jaws snapped shut on his shoulder...

Atherin had ducked the strange goo that whatever had spit at him. He heard Raven trying to call to him for help. He got up and continued to run to where he heard Raven. He was getting closer; he could hear him better and to his horror...smell his blood...

"At-Atherin!!" Raven cried again, feeling the Organoid tearing at his shoulder. He could feel his body going numb, movement becoming difficult. The creature's saliva was poisoned. He yelped, feeling the creature's talons sinking into his back, holding him down. He could barely see anymore. He was close to losing consciousness...

Atherin heard his name being called again and he picked up his pace again. The scent of Raven's blood was becoming stronger, he tried to keep calm. Him panicking wouldn't help matters. He ran a little further and came skidding to a halt right outside the chamber that Raven had fallen into. He could see an organoid eating at him; "Raven! Hold on!"

Raven looked towards where he had heard his name. He could see Atherin, and also a black creature creeping up behind him. "B-behind... you!" he tried to warn him, but the creature whipped Atherin with its tail, knocking him unconscious. The white creature eating him growled loudly, beginning to drag him away, and he finally lost consciousness...

Atherin was seeing stars when something had hit him. He watched through blurry eyes as the white organoid dragged Raven off somewhere deeper, before he truly fell unconscious. Playzia grabbed Atherin's shoulder in his jaws, dragging him away as well, following Salca back to their lair... Atherin was vaguely aware that he was being dragged some where. He was having a hard time trying to wake up and get his body moving again.

Salca carried Raven up higher into the web, while Playzia put Atherin lower. He wrapped him partially in silk, before he climbed up to Salca. Raven had managed to partially regain consciousness, and tried to struggle against Salca as she cocooned him in silk. But he didn't have the strength to get free, and couldn't do anything as he was covered in webs... Atherin was starting to come around, his senses were starting to return and as far as he could tell the only thing that was wrong with him was a splitting headache. He started to struggle a little when he found out he was on something sticky.

Both Salca and Playzia were gathered around Raven, ignoring Atherin for the moment. Salca's jaws were clamped on Raven's shoulder, her proboscis burrowed into his flesh, injecting her deadly venom. Raven was conscious, his eyes barely open, a distant look in his eyes. His breathing was weak and almost nonexistent, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth, a sign the venom was killing him... Atherin soon regained consciousness, and when he found that he couldn't move he growled in irritation. His eyes flashed red, his nails elongating so he could tear himself out of whatever has holding him.

Raven blinked slowly, barely feeling the Spyrix injecting him with venom. His vision was blurry and faded; he couldn't see more than a few feet. But he managed to see Atherin clawing his way free of the webs. He tried to say his name, but all that came out was a moan. Blood was dripping from the corner of his mouth, the venom slowly killing him...

When Atherin had gotten free of the webs he looked up to locate Raven. He saw the two organoids, one injecting something and the other waiting to eat. He growled again, and jumped up to where the two organoids were, landing on the back of the organoid that wasn't doing something. The organoid tried to get him off, but he held on and when the opportunity presented itself, he slashed at the organoid's throat. The cut wasn't deep, but it was deep enough to quiet the organoid down and go unconscious, falling from the web.

Atherin clung onto the web as the organoid fell from under him. Now all that was left was getting the other organoid off Raven. The organoid growled at Atherin, removing her proboscis from Raven and tried to get Atherin off her web. Using the web to swing himself a little, Atherin managed to kick the other organoid off the web. She fell, but managed to hang onto the web before hitting the ground; however, during the fall she hit a sharp part of a wall causing damage to her leg so she couldn't move. Atherin went to work getting Raven free from the webs, after a few minutes of careful tearing Raven fell into his arms, Raven being unable to hold himself up.

Atherin then let go of the web after finding out that the part he was holding onto wasn't sticky. He landed, making sure to not jolt Raven too much. After making sure that neither organoid could reach them he set Raven down and gathered the 25 pounds of Damascus that they needed. When he had enough he placed the bag over his shoulders and then went to pull Raven into standing so he could piggy back him back up and out to safety. Raven may not have been too happy about this development, but he couldn't do much more than give Atherin a weak glare at the moment. When Atherin reached the chamber that Raven had fallen into he found the hole and jumped through it, starting his way back out side to the safety of their zoids and Ibeyla. Ibeyla was sitting in Spectral. Raven and Atherin had been gone a few hours, and she was a little worried.

Raven was about to lose consciousness. He could barely breathe, and his broken ribs made it even more difficult. "A-Atherin... i-it... v-enom..." he wheezed, knowing the Spyrix venom was deadly, and that he had received more than a lethal amount...

Atherin stopped and set Raven down, leaning him against the wall. They were still a good distance from the exit and from what Atherin could see, hear and smell, Raven was close to dying. He set the bag of Damascus down and kneeled in front of Raven. Raven needed to have the venom cleared from his system and now. There was only one way that he knew of that could save him... He used one of his claws and slashed his opposite wrist, sitting next to Raven. He brought it to Raven's mouth, waiting for him to open his mouth to question him like he knew he would. He'd take that opportunity to force his blood into his mouth and make him swallow it.

Raven gave him a confused and disgusted look. "W-hat... the... He-Helkat...y-you...do-ing?"

Before Raven could close his mouth after his question; Atherin's wrist was pressed to it, his blood flowing into Raven's mouth. Raven tried to struggle and pry his arm from him, but he wasn't strong enough. Atherin's blood was accumulating in his mouth because he refused to swallow it, but Atherin had other plans. Making sure that his wrist stayed on Raven's mouth he forced Raven's head back slowly and _made_ him swallow. After he forced Raven to do this one more time he removed his wrist to let Raven vent.

Raven felt like he was about to get sick. But, he did feel better, and he had a little energy back. "What... what the Furher?! What in Eve's name did you do that for?!" he screamed, wiping the blood from his mouth and spitting. He was disgusted beyond belief...

"Saving your life."

"How in Eve's name did that _help_ me?!" Raven snapped, spitting again. He felt sick; he wanted to throw up, but he couldn't. The very notion that he had drank blood made him shudder.

"...Did you know that in ancient times vampire blood was referred to as the 'Elixir of Life'? Humans and Zoidians would actually hunt vampires to drink _their_ blood. Our blood can clear the system of any poisons and even put a stop to death..."

Raven blinked and lowered his eyes. "Sorry..." he said quietly.

"It's alright...I didn't tell you what I was doing before hand... If I had taken the time to explain it, you would have died...even I can't revive a stopped heart..."

Raven nodded. "Thanks... those things... were Spyrix, the most deadly Organoid known. I was lucky to still be alive when you found me. You are lucky that the male decided to eat me and left you alone... otherwise... we'd both be dead..."

"I'm not the easiest thing in the world to eat. Because of my blood I have a little immunity to their venom... But enough of this; we need to get out of here before Ibeyla has a heart attack..." Atherin said picking up the bag and helping Raven back up.

Raven took a few steps forward, but nearly fell. His ribs were making it difficult, and he realized that he had injured his ankle in the fall. "Atherin... you're gonna have to help me out... I can walk, just not without help... I hurt my ankle in the fall..." Atherin nodded and leant him a shoulder. He pulled Raven's arm around his shoulders so he could help him walk.

"Thanks... I should have watched where I was going... if I had; I wouldn't have gotten us in this mess..."

"...No... We'd have still gotten into it. On the way down to get you I tripped over the other one..."

"But still... if I hadn't of fallen in that damn hole, you wouldn't have caught the male's attention..."

"...I still think we'd have gotten into that mess. The damn Damascus was _in_ their lair..."

Raven shrugged. "I'm sure there was Damascus elsewhere in the mine... I just happened to find the most heavily guarded deposit in the whole damn mine..."

"...So long as you don't tell Ibeyla what I had to do to save your life, I'll stop arguing."

"I won't breathe a word... trust me, I'd prefer to forget that..." Raven said, shuddering slightly.

"...But she's gonna figure out about the Spyrix... I cleared the venom from your system...not sealed your wounds..." Atherin smirked, "Though I highly doubt you'd ever let me heal your wounds..."

"No... I don't like getting my wounds healed, after all, I'm a fast healer... and...we could always...lie?" Raven answered, smirking slightly.

"...Who do you think has a better chance of making her believe our lie? I'm not that good at it...besides lying about the fact that I'm 'normal' and a 'human', other than that, I suck at it..."

"I do..." Raven said, smirking, "I can do it... it'll be hard to convince her, but I managed to lie about my past for the entire time I knew her, before I finally told her, so I think I can handle it..."

"That's good 'cause we'll reach the entrance in about three minutes... Hopefully we don't have any unwelcomed and unexpected guess this time..." Raven was having a hard time walking, his ankle hurting. And his ribs were making it difficult…

"Oh no...." Atherin groaned.

Raven blinked and looked at him. "What? Did the Spyrix follow us?"

"...It's worse than that... Van's here...."

"Oh Eve... why now?" Raven said, hanging his head.

"I'm now seriously considering 'eating' him, despite the fact that the whole Republic will be after me because of it...."

"I'd say 'Be my guest', but yeah, I have enough Republic troops on my tail...." Raven sighed.

"Same here... Might as well man up and show that he doesn't bother us...." Atherin replied as they reached the entrance and walked out.

"What do you think I've been doing the whole of my life?" Raven said, but he suddenly was struck with an idea, "Hey, let's freak him out. Tell him that Driacoul got a hold of me..." he said, smirking slyly.

"As much as I would like to do that, Ibeyla's right beside him talking to him. She won't give us a chance to tell him a story..."

"Damn... that would have made him run like a coward...." Raven sighed sadly.

"....Oh boy... They've spotted us." Atherin said as he saw Shadow's head snap up when she could sense Raven, thus making Ibeyla and Van notice them.

Shadow roared and was at Raven in an instant. She was sniffing and licking him, whining as she saw his injuries. Ibeyla walked over as well. "Alright... what happened?"

Atherin wasn't about to speak. He was busy _daring_ Van to come any closer. Van was at a loss at what to do. It may have been Raven, but those cuts and bruises looked pretty bad... "It was my own damn fault, Ibeyla..." Raven said, "I... wasn't paying attention to where I was going, and I fell into a pit and broke a few ribs and hurt my ankle. Atherin tried to help me, but a Spyrix got me before he could reach me. It…tore up my shoulder pretty good, and was about to poison me, when Atherin knocked it off me. We were lucky, it backed off..."

Van had ventured closer, trying to ignore Atherin's death glare that was even scarier than Raven's. When he heard Raven telling Ibeyla what happened he couldn't help but snicker. "HA! You, the Great Raven fell!? AND NEEDED HELP!?!?" Van laughed.

"Shut up Van, you wouldn't have lasted a second against that Spyrix..." Raven snapped, "Then again, you wouldn't even have the guts to go in that cave!! You should have seen all the bones we saw; you would have run home before you even reached the Spyrix!!"

Van wasn't about to take being called a coward. He'd prove to them that he could reach this thing called a Spyrix. "Oh Yeah? We'll just see about that Raven!" Van stormed to the entrance of the cave and peered inside it. "Uhh...you wouldn't happen to have a flash light do you?" He asked scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

Raven had been getting the medicine from Ibeyla. He was better, well, enough to walk. "C'mon Van, we both know you will just go three feet in and no farther. So tell you what, I'll go with you, just to make sure... that the Spyrix doesn't eat you..." Raven said, challenging him.

"Yeah right Raven. If anything you'll push me to it and laugh while it eats me. I can do this myself." Van replied and entered the cave. "I give it 2 two minutes..." Atherin said to Raven.

"Yeah..." Raven said. It was oddly quiet, and Raven started to worry. "I better go make sure it really didn't eat him..." Raven said, grabbing a flashlight.

"Don't worry... I'll follow him..." Atherin said to Ibeyla as Raven disappeared into the cave again. Van was slowly making his way further down the cave, trying to see if anything looked dangerous. He didn't want to admit it, but he was lost. In his haste he never did grab a flashlight, so he had no idea which way he was going as he had stumbled and fell once and that had him confused as to which way he was going.

Raven turned on the flashlight. He could hear something stumbling around up ahead, and he figured it was Van. Van continued down the path, tripping every now and then. He really wished he had a flash light now. He tripped again his foot getting trapped in something. After pulling on his foot hard he fell backwards...into a HUMOUNGOUS spider web!!! Van started to freak and he yelled. "AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Raven broke into a run, hearing Van scream. He rounded a corner and saw Van trapped in the Spyrix web. He cursed under his breath. "Van you idiot, keep quiet! Do you wanna get us both killed?!" Raven whispered harshly, setting down his flashlight to try and help Van.

"A-A-Ahh.... B-B-Behind...you..." Van whispered quietly...a little too late though. Atherin had followed Raven shortly after he had gone back into the cave. He could see him and Van up ahead, but then Van rounded a corner and he lost his visual. After another few minutes of walking Van screamed like a girl and Raven ran after him, turning the same corner. When they had passed that side chamber earlier, Atherin could see that it held nothing but webs...

Raven turned, and saw the white creature. "Damnit..." he cursed, seeing her. "Van, don't move a muscle..." he said quietly, "Now... that's a Spyrix... why did you have to go looking for one?!" he said, glaring at him. Raven knew he couldn't do much, but he put himself in front of Van. He could at least move and try to fight, if not for long.

Salca hissed, twitching her mandibles, the slime dripping from her jaws. She hissed and stalked closer, flicking her powerful tail and snapping her jaws. Playzia hissed from the web above them, leaping down, landing beside Raven, and snapping at him. He was cut off and neither of them could escape....

Van was terrified. He had been dumb and took Raven up on his challenge not realizing that Raven was only trying to get him to shut up. Now his big mouth had landed him and Raven in hot water. Raven was trapped, and the Spyrix were closing in. "Damnit Van, you see what happens?! Now I'm gonna die saving your sorry hide..." he said, glaring at him. The male and female edged closer, poison dripping from their mouths; Raven turned slightly, flicking out his pocket knife. He started to cut through the webs holding Van...

Salca and Playzia attacked. Playzia spit, hitting Raven with the venom. Raven dropped the knife and turned around, and in that second Salca sprung, pouncing on Raven. Raven cried out in pain, feeling claws tearing into his side. He hit the ground hard, but grabbed her mandibles, trying to keep her from tearing out his throat. Van was at a loss. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. _Raven_ was defending _him_!! If he wasn't so stupefied he would have helped.

Raven managed to get free and got to his feet, but Playzia slashed at his back, making him scream. He whipped his tail around, hitting Raven, throwing him into the jagged rock wall. Before he could do anything, Salca pounced, sinking her claws into Raven's chest and clamping her jaws onto his shoulder, making him scream. He tried to get free, but her paralytic and numbing saliva affected him instantly. He managed to look at Van for a moment, panicked, but his eyes glazed and faded. He lowered his head and groaned, unable to move anymore. Playzia stalked beside Salca, nipping at Raven, growling.

Van snapped out of his stupefied state. He wrestled out of the remaining webs that were on him and tried to help Raven. This was his fault. All his fault. If Raven died and he lived he wouldn't be able to live with himself, let alone like himself. He would have let someone who hated him, yet took the risk to save him die! He couldn't live with that. Playzia turned, hissing at Van. There was blood on his muzzle, and his bloody eyes made him look demonic. Salca was too busy feasting on Raven to bother, tearing at his shoulder. Raven was conscious, but couldn't move or feel it. He could only weakly try to push her away, but she was too strong...

Atherin had finally caught up to where Raven and Van were. When he had smelled Raven's blood again he hurried, and in doing so and gotten himself stuck in a side web in the passage way. The white one was tearing at Raven again and the other, black one, was keeping Van away from Raven. "Hey! Do I have to hurt you two again?"

Playzia turned and hissed, but turned and fled into the web, not wanting another fight with Atherin. Salca lifted her head, Raven's blood dripping from her jaws. She roared loudly, lashing her tail, showing her bladed, bloody teeth. Raven wasn't moving, and he was just barely conscious. Salca wasn't about to surrender her prey again so easily, especially when her aggressor was trapped himself...

Atherin took a step forward; his eyes were dangerously close to glowing and turning red. His claws were on the verge of being revealed too, even in front of Van... He took another step towards her, showing that he wasn't trapped nor affected by her or her webs. Salca hissed and snarled, but turned and fled, following Playzia back into the web. But Raven was not in good shape. His shoulder was torn to shreds, his chest and sides slashed and cut; blood covering the stone around him. He wasn't moving, and his eyes were barely open. His breathing was dangerously weak, and he couldn't move very much...

Atherin was at Raven's side the moment that Salca had fled. He could see how badly off he was and the only good thing that crossed his mind was that he wasn't poisoned this time. He was debating with himself if he should try to stop death as he placed pressure to his wounds. "Don't just stand there Van! Get over here and help!" Van did as he was told and tried to stop the bleeding as well, his mind was so confused....Raven was his enemy, yet he had saved him...at the risk of his own life!!

Raven was barely conscious, having a hard time breathing. He had lost a lot of blood, and was close to death. His vision was blurry, and he could barely move. He wasn't going to last much longer... Atherin bit his lip. There was only one way to keep Raven from dying...again... Though he knew that Raven wasn't going to enjoy it he really couldn't say 'no'. "Sorry Raven, but this is for your own good...even if you don't like it..." Atherin said as he slashed his wrist again and opened Raven's mouth a little, letting his blood trickle down into Raven's mouth. When he saw that he was refusing to swallow again, Atherin forced him too. Van was looking on in confusion. He didn't know what to think about this.

Raven tried to cough and squirm away, but he couldn't. He swallowed on his own, not liking having Atherin forcing him too. He didn't like that Van was watching either. But he couldn't do anything in his state... Atherin stopped forcing Raven to swallow when he saw that he wasn't going to fight against him this time. Atherin was growing weaker with each drop of blood that he lost. Finally when his eyes flashed red, as he couldn't stop them from turning, did he pull his arm away trying to regain control of himself. By that time Van somehow thought that it was rude to watch and had turned away, waiting to be told what the hell was going on.

Raven coughed, wiping his mouth. "Okay... that's it... we're _not_ doing that again..." he said, shaking slightly. He was still disgusted by the very thought of what he had just done. "Sorry about that Atherin... I didn't enjoy it any more than you..." he said, making sure he had wiped all the blood away. He then caught sight of Van. "Helkat... you're probably wondering what just happened aren't you?"

"W-What the hell is he!? And what in the name of Eve did he just _do_!?" Van demanded. There was no way he was letting them get out of this. Not after what he had just witnessed.

"Just... calm down Van..." Raven groaned, forcing himself to his feet. He still was a little week. "Van... he saved my life for the second time today..."

"That still doesn't explain what he _is_!" Van said as he stood up as well. Atherin was still trying to regain control of himself, his knees drawn to his chest and forehead resting on them, not speaking or really even listening to them...

"Listen Van, just calm down!" Raven said, "If you keep screaming, you'll draw the Spyrix back!!" he said, looking around. "Now if you calm down, I'll _try_ to explain, alright?!" Van didn't say anything, but nodded. He wanted to know what the hell was going on and he was going to get to the bottom of this. Even if it meant following them until he figured it out.

"Okay, but first, you have to _swear_ to keep your mouth shut, and never tell a soul what I'm about to tell you, alright?" If it meant getting to the bottom of this then he'd keep quiet. Van nodded again.

"Alright..." Raven glanced down at Atherin, "Well... Atherin... is a vampire..."

Van just looked at Raven like he was an idiot. "You expect me to believe that?"

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**_Author's Note:_** Well, it would seem that getting the Damascus was harder than they thought it'd be. Not only that but, but Van's pride seems to have gotten in the way and has now cost Atherin a lot of his energy and strength. Now that Raven's had to explain what had happened...will Van believe them? And if so, what'll he do? It would seem that Atherin's so called secret is being blown everytime he meets someone new... Please Review!!


	9. Back to Porto

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do not own Zoids. _

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia and Driacoul do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel and Eiji belong to __**ME**__. The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if Redai is used without my permission, as it was just a name that I made up on the spur of the moment, however, if you use Jurei please make not of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ We're almost there! We've almost reached double digits! Last chapter, Raven and Atherin had some trouble getting the Damascus. Atherin had to reveal an ancient secret to save Raven from dying, and then Van showed back up. Trying to keep his pride intact caused him to go back into the mine, which in turn made Raven and eventually Atherin follow after him. Atherin had to again save Raven's life, but with Van watching…some explaining was in store….

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me.

Thanks to those of you that Reviewed!!

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Ͽ Back to Porto Ͼ

Raven just narrowed his eyes. "You don't believe me? How else do you explain why Atherin's eyes were glowing and that his blood healed me?"

Van thought about it for a moment. It made an odd amount of sense... but the notion that vampires exist...was a little hard to believe. "...H-He really is...?"

Raven rolled his eyes. "Why won't you just take my word for it?!" he said, but suddenly remembered something. He pulled off his glove and unrolled the gauze from around his wrist. He held it out, showing the twin puncture wounds. "There? Believe me now?!"

The blood drained from Van's face. "H-He bit you!? Y-You're a vampire too!?"

Raven rolled his eyes. "Yes, he bit me. And I am NOT a vampire!!" he snapped.

Van didn't quite believe him, but he didn't want to argue with him here...in this place... Atherin had finally composed himself enough to stand up. Raven covered his wrist again and turned at Atherin. "Hey, you alright, Dracula?" he asked, not knowing if he was alright or not.

"...Yeah... Just...try not...to open any more wounds... for _both_ our sakes..."

Raven nodded. "Trust me; I don't think I can handle you 'healing' me again..." Raven said, "Do you know the way out Atherin? I sorta got lost when I was running..."

"...It's a straight shot back to the entrance... Just exit this sub-chamber and turn left..." Atherin answered he was tired and very 'hungry' but he'd be alright when they got back outside and he could 'hunt'. Van nervously followed the two out and followed them; not wanting to catch either's attention at the moment.

Raven followed Atherin out, not wanting to stay in the chamber any longer with the Spyrix still hungry. After walking for about ten minutes the boys re-emerged from the cavern. Atherin immediately went to his bag of candy, having left it so it wouldn't hinder him. Van was still nervous, still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Atherin was indeed a vampire...and that Raven wasn't. Weren't people who were bitten _supposed_ to turn into vampires? There must have been something he missed...

Raven walked to Ibeyla, who hugged him. "That's it... I'm not letting you out of my sight ever again..." she sighed as she turned and pulled the vile of medicine from her pocket. Raven took a few swallows of the medicine with disdain, but he knew he needed to.

Atherin had sat down next to his bag and had started to practically inhale its contents. 'Healing' twice in one day wasn't something he'd like to do again. He was thankful that the night before he had managed to turn the red mineral into a studded earring. That was much safer than having it on a chain or choker where it had a higher chance of breaking.

Van didn't know what to do exactly. He was in the presence of a vampire and two people who didn't even give it a second thought. He wanted to go back to base and tell everyone about this, but he had a feeling that he'd get the same reaction that he had given Raven...

Raven walked over to Atherin and sat down. "Hey... thanks for saving my hide, Dracula... if you hadn't, well, I'd be Spyrix food right now..."

"...It's nothing... It's Van fault that he took you up on your dumb challenge... Though...I didn't think you would actually go in after him without Ibeyla telling you to..."

Raven chuckled slightly. "Yeah... I surprised myself a little... what can I say, I may hate the guy, but I'm still human...'

"Glad that one of us is..." Atherin said as he munched on some more candy.

"Yeah..." Raven said, "Atherin... are you feeling alright? I mean, you were attacked by two Spyrix and healed my sorry hide twice..."

"...I'm 'starving'... My body can only produce so much of my own blood... It's why I asked for you and Van to not injure yourselves until we got out... I would have attacked one of you..."

Raven sighed and turned himself slightly, pulling off his glove and rolling up his sleeve. "Here..." he said, pulling off the gauze and holding out his left hand, "Go ahead, it's the least I can do, and you really need it..."

Atherin gave him a questioning look. "Someone doesn't have to torture you to offer?" He asked, not thinking that Raven would actually, _willingly_, offer without him asking for it. He had only said that he was 'starving'. Van had silently watched Raven and Atherin talking and truth be told, after the shock had worn off he was a 'little' curious about what they were talking about... But when he saw Raven _offer_ his arm to Atherin, he just about fainted.

"Hey, I told you I was human, and I can tell you need to eat. After all, you saved my hide twice today; I figure I owe you..." Raven said, "... and besides, I know what it's like this time, so it doesn't freak me out as much..."

"Well, this makes getting meals easier." Atherin joked as he brought Raven's wrist to his mouth again. He didn't reopen the old punctures; they were just now starting to scab over to heal, so he made an identical pair right under them.

Van was _absolutely_ horrified!!!! He was _actually watching_ Atherin eating Raven. He just wanted to go into a corner and hide, but he just couldn't move! Raven turned away, not sick this time, he just didn't want to watch. It didn't hurt, but he could still hear Atherin swallowing, which made him a little uneasy. But he stayed relaxed this time, knowing Atherin wasn't going to hurt him. He looked over and saw the look on Van's face, and he had to stop himself from laughing.

Atherin continued to drink. He wasn't kidding when he said he was 'starving'. He knew that he had to stop soon, but he just couldn't, his instincts refusing such an action. There was a good possibility that he'd still have to 'hunting' later tonight. Van watched on in utter disbelief, horror and disgust. How could Raven just _let_ him do that to him!?

Raven was starting to get dizzy and feeling weak. Atherin was taking too much. "Atherin... stop..." he said, tapping his shoulder lightly. He couldn't lose much more blood, or he'd lose consciousness...

Atherin pulled his fangs from Raven's arm, there was a little blood dripping from the corners of his mouth, giving him a truly frightening appearance to Van, and a slight shudder from Raven. "...Sorry... ...But I'm still 'hungry'..." His face lit up in an evil grin, enhancing his demonic look... "...Tell Van that he has to 'donate' as well...tell him that he owes me for saving his sorry ass."

Raven smirked and looked over at Van. "Hey Van! Atherin says you need to 'donate' a little blood as well, because you owe him for him saving you earlier..."

Van squeaked when he heard that. He had just watched Atherin eating Raven and now he wanted to eat him too!? At the moment he didn't even want to go _near_ him! Let alone let him _eat_ him!! Van 'tried' to get away but with his knees all weak and wobbly, he succeeded in doing nothing more than falling over. Raven had been rewrapping his bloody wrist when he saw Van fall flat on his face. He busted out in laughter. Atherin chuckled as well as he cleaned the blood from his mouth. "Perhaps Van could be useful in some other way..."

Raven looked at him. "Useful for what? This is VAN we're talking about..."

"True, but... I need a body... A whole body..." Atherin saw Raven's face lit up thinking he was implying something. "I never said that I was gonna 'eat' him. But with Ibeyla's _and_ his word, I might be able to secure myself a prisoner when we get back..."

Raven shuddered a little. "Okay... but... I doubt that would work. I mean, there would be suspicions... I think just finding someone would be... better..."

"...I can't go 'hunting' in the Wind Colony... Van'll make sure that there's no one missing... And then after we pass the Wind Colony the next place is the base that we just came from... So...have any suggestions?"

Raven sighed in thought. "Well... maybe we could send Ibeyla back to the Republic with the metal, and we could go back to Porto while we wait for the suit to be made. After all, I don't want to spend all that time waiting in the Republic..."

"...That would solve my 'problem'...but...what of Van? You know he's gonna keep an eye on me now... He calls it his 'duty'. I call it 'annoying'."

"Well... Shadow could take care of that..." Raven smirked, "... she could _keep_ him in his Zoid while you go hunting..."

"So long as he doesn't try to stop me, I don't care how you keep him entertained. But I think you know that you can't kill him... The last thing we need is the entire Republic after us on top of our Vareix killer."

"I know. Shadow will follow my orders to the letter. She won't kill him. But... we'll have to somehow talk Karl into thinking you aren't up to anything suspicious. I'll probably have to go into town with you, so it looks like we're on surveillance, and not 'hunting'. And don't worry; I won't be within a hundred yards of you when you get someone..."

"...Azel can keep Karl busy... He has a code for that..." Atherin mused to himself. He caught sight of Van watching them again and he smirked, showing his fangs. Van paled and quickly looked away, having intense interest in a bug crawling on his zoid.

"Atherin... I think that if you keep this up, he'll faint like an old lady..." Raven snickered, seeing Van's reaction to Atherin's fangs.

"I'm surprised he hasn't done so already! ...Perhaps I can pull that stunt on him that I pulled on you..."

Raven had to bite his tongue to keep from dying of laughter. "Do it... and act like you're really going to feed off him, like you did me in the inn..."

"I think he'd piss himself if I did that!" Atherin snickered. Poor Van...he had no idea what they were plotting, but the fact that Raven's shoulders were shaking with suppressed _laughter_ he knew that it couldn't be good.

"Do it... if you made me panic, just _think_ of what Van'll do..."

Atherin thought for a moment on that. There were many things that Van could do and all would be pretty funny--no..._hilarious_ to watch. "...We'll have to get Ibeyla to go back to the base though...and hopefully...Van doesn't call in for his tags along..."

Raven glanced over at Ibeyla. "She's too busy fiddling with Spectral to see what we're doing. She won't care anyways. Just go for it..."

"...But I need him to 'provoke' me...like you had... He's too damn afraid of me to even look me in the eyes...let alone egg me on..."

"I can't help you there..." Raven said.

"How?" Atherin asked, keeping Van in sight from the corner of his eye. He was trying to slink away to either Ibeyla for protection or to radio in someone...he wasn't sure yet...

"I'm not sure, try insulting or challenging him..."

"I don't know him like you do to insult him. And even if I were to challenge him he'd back out."

"Just insult him; I'll egg him on..."

"I was hoping to do this later in the night... There's...just the added effect from something... And I think he'd be a little braver if he did have his buddies with him..."

"True... now he's a coward..." Raven said, snickering.

"...I can see that... Ten gold says he's calling his buddies in for backup." Atherin said as he saw Van disappear behind Caesar's leg.

"Probably..." Raven said, snickering slightly. His 'mortal enemy' wasn't near as brave when he was alone. "Still... you'd think he'd trust us a _little_ more, after all, we saved his sorry hide..."

"...Doubt it... You and him aren't exactly the 'best of friends', he probably only though you saved him so then _you_ could kill him. As for me? Well, do I need to explain any further?"

"True... but still... I almost got munched trying to save his sorry ass, so he could at _least_ be a little more trusting..."

"...You would think." Atherin mused, now being able to pull out and enjoy a blood covered piece of rock candy.

Raven rolled his eyes. "How long have you been waiting to eat that, Dracula?"

"Since I found out that I had it." He answered happily sucking on it.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Well enjoy it, I'm not going to go and coat your candy in my blood, or let you do it..."

"I will enjoy it, _very _much. And now, thanks to it, it'll keep me from having to 'hunt' for just a little bit longer."

"Joy..." Raven sighed sarcastically, "But... will that hold you off long enough?"

"At least until tomorrow night, as long as I eat some form of sugar every fifteen minutes."

"Good... I don't want you going nuts and eating me alive..."

"...I won't. I have it under control again... For now... I can't make any promises if you were to suddenly start gushing blood though... That would be an overload on my instincts to 'eat'."

"Well... that's good to hear... but considering I have open wounds that just now healed, that is a possibility..."

"Then _try_ not to do anything that'll open them again... I really don't want to make good on my earlier threat of 'Don't tempt me.'"

"Trust me... I'm not any keener than you on that..." Raven said, tightening the gauze on his wrist subconsciously.

They sat and plotted--! I-I mean talked, until Atherin noticed Van reappear near Ibeyla, looking quite happy with himself. "Joy...more people..."

"Oh no..." Raven groaned, sighing loudly.

"Might as well see what he's trying to convince Ibeyla of..." Atherin said as he stood up. "Are you able to stand and walk now?"

Raven nodded. "Yeah... I can walk..." he groaned, staggering to his feet.

They walked over to where Ibeyla and Van were. Van shied away from Atherin a little, but he still looked happy about something. "Ibeyla...I need to talk to you... Privately..."Atherin said as he noticed Van trying to make sure he heard every word. /...Damn nosy thing. /

Ibeyla nodded and walked over to him. "Yeah Atherin?" she asked.

"Ibeyla...do you think you could deliver the Damascus to Dr. D with out Raven and me? ...In saving their sorry hides I used up lot of energy and I need blood...and a lot of it. We were thinking of heading back to Porto...avoiding the Wind Colony..."

Ibeyla nodded. "I understand, Atherin. I think I can handle being on my own..." she said jokingly, "... you two just need to be careful. I'll meet up with you two in Porto as soon as the suit is done..."

"Thanks for understanding... And we will... We're not gonna do anything stupid to get the Republic after us..." Atherin replied. They went back to where Raven and Van were. Raven was ignoring Van and Van trying to talk to him about something... He never knew when to keep his mouth shut.

Ibeyla tossed the bag of the metal into Spectral. "Okay, now, you two be good while I'm gone, and stay outta trouble!! Remember, keep your eyes open for Rabe!" she said, closing the cockpit.

Both Raven and Atherin told Ibeyla that they'd stay out of trouble. They were in Republican territory and really didn't feel like spending the night in a jail cell. Van seemed to be thinking along the same lines so he offered to make sure that they didn't cause any trouble. "I'll go with them! I'll make sure that they don't terrorize anyone!!"

Raven shot a glare at Van. "We don't need you babysitting us, Van..." he growled, glaring death at him.

Atherin glared as well, though he knew that Van would follow no matter what they did. "Do you really think I'd let someone like YOU lose within the Republic with no supervision!?" Raven rolled his eyes. He was not looking forward to this...

"...Then you best not slow us down Van." Atherin glared. He wasn't looking forward to Van tagging along either. He had a big mouth, and would more than likely say something about his 'condition' if he already hasn't told his friends that he had something big to tell them already.

Raven got into the BFSE, Shadow flying over his Zoid. As soon as Atherin was in Eiji, Raven opened a link to him. "Eve... he's not gonna keep his mouth shut, Atherin... I know it..."

"You're right about that Raven... He's not gonna let us hear the end of it..." Atherin agreed as they set off to Porto, Van following them.

"You got that right... let's just hope he keeps his damn mouth shut around his friends... I don't want to have to explain that again..."

"...I just might threaten to bite them if they press the matter..." Atherin deadpanned... He knew Van would say something or try to hold it over his head...but it wouldn't work against him.

Raven chuckled. "That'll keep his mouth shut... or, we could threaten to feed him to Rabe?"

"If we could find him..." Atherin joked. They would reach Porto by tomorrow afternoon, but by then Van's friends would most likely have joined them...oh joy...

"If only... hey, maybe if we feed Van to Rabe, that demon will leave us alone..."

"If only. We're still marked for death. He'll still try to eat us."

"Yeah, but if he eats Van, he might not be as hungry..."

"For one day. Then he'll eat us."

Raven shrugged. "Yeah... but by then we could have escaped... and we'll be rid of Van for that time..."

Atherin chuckled. "True, but there's no guarantee that he get full on _just_ Van, he might just see him as an appetizer..."

"True... but we can run while he's eating Van..."

"...No... He'll make sure that we can't move before he eats Van... You saw what he did to me..."

"True... and if that venom affected you, imagine what it would do to me..."

"It'll get you killed that's what. I hope Rabe hasn't done too much damage in Porto... I won't be able to 'eat' if he has…" Atherin said as he held his stomach.

"And we _don't_ want that to happen..."

Atherin chuckled again. "What? Don't like being a blood donor?" He joked.

"No, I'm fine with that... I just don't want to end being an organ donor to you if you get too hungry..."

"I haven't eaten any organs...lately... Not for a few years at least..."

Raven rolled his eyes. "That's _very_ reassuring, Dracula..."

"...It's not like I wanted too... Personally I find it rather disturbing... But...it was something that was out of my control..."

"Out of your control?" Raven said a little sarcastically, "That makes me feel _even_ better..."

"....... ...Lets get off this subject... It's something I don't want to experience again..."

"That makes two of us... so; do you think Rabe is still in the city?"

"...I hope not... I won't be able to tell 'til we get to Porto... If he's killed anyone else there we'll hear about it immediately..."

"Yeah... I'm sure he's still in the city... he's probably not gonna leave, since it's a stable food supply..."

"...But a small village town would be better for a steady supply... A big city is better for scaring people and maybe a snack..."

"But with Rabe, people don't know what they're looking for... and we don't know, he could also be hunting in towns, we don't know..."

"Well, let's hope he decided to move on... Not that I want to condemn anyone, but Porto is the next nearest town..."

"Yeah... I know what you mean..."

They continued on their way to Porto, doing their best to ignore Van when he tried to com-link to them. After the tenth time of turning his com-link off and having Van reappearing Atherin got fed up. "What Van!?" "Aren't we gonna stop soon? It's past lunch time! I'm hungry!"

Raven opened a link to Van. "Van! Stop whining like a girl! You missed lunch, so what?! If we stop, Rabe could jump up and eat your sorry ass! So shut up and stop whining!!"

"If Rabe doesn't eat you, then I will. I'm 'hungry' too..." Atherin growled when he saw Van open his mouth to argue back. It shut him up and he turned his com-link off.

Raven opened a link to Atherin. "Thank you... that should shut him up the rest of the way there..."

"No problem... But I doubt it'll keep him clamed up for the rest of the trip... We're bond to run into his buddies sooner or later..."

"Yeah... let's hope later, after you go hunting..."

"Yeah, let's hope..." Atherin said as he pulled out another piece of candy. Night soon came. They had to stop for the night, even though Atherin and Raven didn't want to. Van was starting to get annoying again.

Shadow un-fused and placed Raven on the ground, he yawned and stretched, stiff from being in the Zoid for such a long time. Eiji lowered and let Atherin out. Van was already out of Caesar just as stiff and sore as Raven. After getting a fire started and starting supper, something that Raven could tell was human cuisine, Atherin asked the question that he and Raven had basically been wondering since Van volunteered to 'babysit' them. "So Van... When's your backup coming?" "Y-You knew about that!?" Atherin gave him a look that said 'What do you take me for? Stupid?'

Raven looked over at Van. "Yeah Van... we've known since the cave. We know you aren't brave enough to stay with your rival and a vampire without your little posse to back you up..."

Van glared at Raven for that remark. He was too brave! He's just never had to deal with someone...like Atherin before... And the fact that he and Raven seemed to be pretty good friends, it was necessary...for the people's protection... At least that's what he told himself.

Raven merely focused his attention on the fire, leaning back against Shadow's side. Atherin was cooking something, but he wasn't really paying attention to what it was at the moment. Atherin ignored Van as he fumed about his and Raven's comments. He was too busy preparing supper, since he was 'starved', Van had been complaining since two and he figured Raven had to be hungry as well. He had decided to make something hardy so settled for beef stew. It'd take about an hour to get done, but it'd be worth it.

Raven was trying to get a little sleep, since he was still exhausted and tired from letting Atherin feed off him. He would recover quickly, he was a fast healer. Shadow was sniffing at his wrist, fussing over his wound, as always...

Atherin finished putting the ingredients in for the stew before he started to eat some more candy. He was running low again...thanks to Rabe and 'healing'. That'd be another stop in Porto. Van was sitting near the fire, but away from Atherin and Raven, waiting for any signs of his buddies. About twenty minutes later the sound of a Gustav could be heard.

Raven sighed. "Great... his 'backup' is here..."

"...Joy...more people... Let's see what Van's gonna tell them... Or better yet, what they're gonna yell at him for. I don't think he told them that he was coming with us the first time..." Atherin replied as he watched Van bound over to the two females, male and his silver organoid.

"Let's just hope he keeps his mouth shut..." Raven said, not opening his eyes.

"...Too late..." Atherin said as he watched Van's arms flail as he was explaining something to them. The older male had a 'Yeah right, gimme a break Van' look on his face, the female with the dark brown hair looked about ready to kill him and the female with green hair was listening intently as was the silver organoid.

Raven sighed and opened his eyes. "Damn..."

"It's not all that bad..." Atherin said as he watched the brown haired female hit him upside the head. It looked like they didn't believe him...yet... He knew Van would do something to make him or Raven tell them that he wasn't lying.

Raven couldn't help but snicker. "He deserved that..." he said, "Let's just hope he doesn't drag me over there and make me show them my wrist..." he said just loudly enough for only Atherin to hear.

"...I don't think he will... Shadow'll bite him if he tries..." Atherin said as Shadow glared at the silver organoid.

"She'll do more than bite him..." Raven said, smirking, "... she'll chase him into that Zoid of his and lock him in..."

Atherin chuckled. He could see Shadow doing that. He knew that she didn't like him, but because Raven was alright with him and knew that he was only kidding when they first met, Shadow was starting to warm up to him...a little... Van on the other hand...would never have that luxury. Shadow turned her head and looked at Atherin. She turned back and went back to sniffing at Raven's wounded wrist.

"Brace yourself...here they come..." Atherin said as Van 'convinced' his friends to come over to the fire.

"Damn..." Raven muttered, crossing his arms as he leaned further against Shadow.

Atherin watched as they approached closer. When they had reached the fire, tensions increased. They weren't so keen on the idea of Raven having full mobility, let alone with someone who looked just as deadly as he did. "You gonna introduce yourselves or just stare at us?"

The male that was with Van crossed his arms and glared at Atherin and Raven, but said his name anyways; "It's Irvine." Next the brown haired female who had hit Van, "Well, aren't you a spitfire. The name's Moonbay." Lastly was the green haired girl, "Hello! I'm Fiona! And this is Zeke. What's your name? We already know Raven." "It's Atherin."

Raven ignored them all. He wasn't in the mood to socialize. Well, he was never in the mood to socialize. Shadow kept her eyes on the group, not letting anyone close to him.

"If you think you're gonna get anywhere trying to out glare us then you're sadly mistaken." Atherin said to Irvine as he noticed his still death glare on them. Irvine didn't say anything but sat down, there was no need to stand all night watching these two. The other's sat down as well; it was silent for a while until Moonbay asked what was being made. "Man, does that smell good. Which one of ya'll is making something?" "That would be me." Atherin answered. "Really? Didn't think you could cook; with you being a 'vampire' and all." She joked. "But Moonbay! He really _is_ a vampire!" Van exclaimed.

Raven couldn't help it. "Man... you must've fallen out of Caesar one too many times Van to think _that_..."

"But! I _know_ you know that he's a vampire Raven! You let him eat you for Eve's sake!" Van tried to argue. "Van...Raven doesn't let anyone but that chick Ibeyla and Shadow near him... You expect us to believe that he'd let some punk bite him?" Irvine asked sarcastically.

"Yeah Van... you must've hit your head or something..." Raven said, smirking, knowing he was getting on Van's last nerve.

"Raven!" Van whined. "Why are you defending him!? He's dangerous! Even more so than you!"

"Defending him?" Raven rolled his eyes, "Man... how many times has Moonbay hit you over the head? She must've killed what little brain cells you had left..."

Atherin chuckled at Raven's comment. Moonbay tried to hide her snickering but failed. "Moonbay! You're not suppose to agree with him!" "Van, give it a rest will ya? As far as I can see, the only threat he's causing is not feeding us. We hauled ass trying to catch up to you so we haven't had anything to eat since this morning." Irvine said.

Raven snickered. "Jeez Van... give it a rest..."

Van sat down with a huff. His friends didn't believe him, Raven wasn't helping things...not that he thought he would anyways, and Atherin hadn't made one threat about 'eating' him or anything. "...I don't have enough bowls for everyone...you'll have to use your own." Atherin said as he deemed the stew done. Moonbay got up and got her spare bowls, handing them to Atherin. He filled them up and handed them out.

Raven quietly ate. "This is good, Atherin..." he said, leaning against Shadow's side.

"Thanks, learned from the best." He said as he ate his share. The others were in agreement, but Van ate his wearily...after learning what was in the last meal he had ate from Atherin.

Raven finished and put the bowl back by the fire. He sat down with Shadow again. Atherin finished his meal too...six helpings was enough to keep him from doing anything too rash. When he was done he started to eat candy again. The others didn't think he could eat that much, as he was about as big as Raven was, so they didn't know where he was keeping it... "How can he eat that much?" Irvine asked. "I've told you before! It's 'cause he's a vampire!"

Raven rolled his eyes. "Again with the vampire thing... jeez Van, I think that stupid ghost story has you paranoid..." he said, smirking, "... Atherin just has a fast metabolism..."

"Ghost story? What ghost story?" Fiona asked innocently. Van hadn't mentioned anything about a ghost story. "Yeah Van. What's this ghost story he's talking about?" Irvine asked, while Moonbay started snickering again.

Raven looked over at Atherin. "Five gold says he's too chicken to tell them it..." he said just loud enough for Atherin to hear.

Atherin's eyes looked over to where Van's friends were starting to harass him about it. "Make it fifteen."

"Sure... you saw his reaction to that story, he won't tell it..."

"He might or might not... They're persistent... I'll give it...an hour before he breaks down and tells it..."

"Yeah... wake me up if he does..." Raven said, lowering his head and closing his eyes, crossing his arms as he fell into a light sleep.

Twenty minutes had passed before Atherin woke Raven up. "Pay up." He said indicating to where Van was. Irvine had tied him to a tree and had placed a plate of papaya's in front of him, saying that he'd eat one or Zeke would eat one until he told them the story.

Raven gave him the gold coins he owed. "Damn..." he said, but he couldn't help but laugh at the situation Van had gotten himself into.

Atherin laughed too. "That's what Van gets for opening his big mouth. Candy? Might as well watch the show." Atherin said happily. Raven took a piece of candy. "Yeah... this'll be interesting..."

Atherin got out some candy as well. He leaned back against Eiji's paw, and patted his big nose when he laid his head down next to him. They watched as Irvine tortured the story out of Van. It had lost its effect because it wasn't Atherin telling it, and Raven wasn't going to scare them.

Raven ate the sucker that Atherin had given him. It was a little disappointing; he had been hoping for Van to freak himself out. Atherin and Raven watched as Van retold the 'ghost' story...and his friends snickering and laughing at him. Atherin started to chuckle as he could hear Van getting to the ending.

Raven watched Van as he told the story. He wasn't doing a good job at it... Atherin started laughing softly as he heard Van's horrible rendition of the ending. "For how much he talks you'd think he'd be better at telling a simple story!"

"Yeah... I mean he never shuts his mouth, so he should be great at telling stories, but no..."

"You would think..." Atherin said as he heard Van conveniently left out the part where Raven tackled and scared the shit out of him. Raven continued to eat the sucker, watching Van's friends' reactions.

After Van was finished he could see and hear Irvine poking fun at him, Moonbay was laughing and Fiona trying to hide her giggling behind her hand. "Come one guys! Untie me!! It's not funny! Y-You listen to _him_ tell you a story and let's see who's laughing!"

Raven snickered. "C'mon Van, it was just a 'harmless' story..."

"H-Harmless!? With the way he told it and how you two talk about it, it can't be harmless! You two are always talking about Rabe or Driacoul!!"

Raven had to keep himself from laughing. "So? It's just a story Van..."

Van didn't have a remark for that. He couldn't go and prove to them of his earlier claim of 'Atherin's a vampire'. "Come on Irvine! Untie me." "Fine. Don't be such a baby Van."

Raven snickered upon hearing Irvine's remark. Shadow lifted her head and nosed his arm, whining. "Atherin... do you mind tossing a piece of candy to Shadow?"

"Sure, no problem." Atherin said, tossing Shadow a piece of rock candy.

Shadow snapped it up and chewed it loudly. She nosed Atherin and purred. "Heh... she's warming up to you quickly..." Raven said, tossing the chewed up sucker stick into the fire.

"Well that's good. But I'm not gonna try my hand at petting her yet." Atherin said. Irvine had untied Van and he had stalked back to the fire.

"Don't worry, she won't bite you... she's been around you enough now to know you aren't gonna hurt me or her..." Raven said, stroking Shadow's head. Raven looked over as Van as he sat down.

Van glared at them. He was gonna prove to his friends one way or another Atherin was. Then he remembered what Raven had shown him... Now...how to get Raven to show his friends?

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_**Author's Note:**_ So this chapter was more or less filler than anything. There's some musings between Atherin and Raven about what to do next. There's also some terrorizing of Van as well ^^; Van's friends arrived as well, and as you can tell…they don't believe Van's accusations of Atherin being a vampire. However…it looks like Van isn't going to give up on proving it to them. Please Review!!


	10. Revealed

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do not own zoids. _

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia and Driacoul do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel and Eiji belong to __**ME**__. The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if Redai is used without my permission, it was just a name I made up on the spur of the moment. However, if Jurei is used please make note of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ Here it is, chapter 10! We left off last chapter with Van's friends joining our reluctant dark heroes. Irvine managed to get the 'scary' story out of Van, and now Van's trying to figure out a way to prove his earlier claim…

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me.

Thanks to those of you that Reviewed!!

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Ͽ Revealed Ͼ

Raven leaned over to Atherin. "I don't like that look he's giving us... damn... do you think he remembers the puncture wounds?"

"Most likely..." Atherin answered as he noticed Van giving them looks and he was too quiet...

"He's planning something..." Raven said, glaring at Van.

"Yeah...just keep your guard up... He's rash... He'll do something to prove it to them..."

"Yeah... but if he gets too close, Shadow'll eat him..."

"With his friends here? If you make any move to harm him, they'll radio in the Republic...then they _will_ find out..."

Raven shrugged. "It'd be his own damn fault..." he said, leaning back into Shadow and crossing his arms.

Van's friends had gathered around the fire shortly after Van had. Irvine and Moonbay were still snickering about the 'scary' story that Van had told them. Van was up to something, both Atherin and Raven could tell...but they didn't know what exactly he would do. He was...unpredictable...the worst kind of person to have around when there's a big secret to be kept.

Raven crossed his arms and lowered his head. "I'm going to sleep..." he muttered to Atherin, his eyes closing. Shadow yawned as well, curling around Raven, falling asleep...

"Night, don't let me bite." Atherin joked quietly so only Raven heard him. He then went to watching the stars; he could count on Eiji to keep watch on things. Shadow was snoring quietly, her tail-tip curling and uncurling on the sand in her sleep. Raven was already in a deep sleep, his head down and arms crossed.

Atherin was resting on Eiji, not paying attention to Van and his friends conversing about something. As far as he could tell, it was just mindless talking...or the occasional quip from Van when Irvine said something to ruffle his feathers.

Van had spied that Raven and Shadow had finally fallen asleep and that Atherin wasn't paying attention to them. He took this opportunity to prove to his friends that Atherin was indeed a vampire. Before Raven, Shadow or Atherin could do anything Van grabbed Raven's left wrist and pulled his glove off and had managed to unwrap the gauze before Raven woke up...spitting angry...

"Van! What the Helkat are you doing?!" Raven yelled, jerking his hand away. Shadow awoke and raised her head, growling loudly.

"Proving that that boy over there is really a vampire!" Van answered unafraid of Shadow and Raven as he made a grab for his wrist again, turning it to show his friends the two twin puncture wounds.

Raven jerked his hand back. "Van! What the Furher is your problem?!" he snapped. Shadow roared and lashed her tail across the ground, getting agitated.

"Nothing's my problem! It's you that has a problem!! Why the Helkat are you harboring him!? He should be locked up somewhere! Not running around the planet!"

"I don't have a problem, Van! There's nothing wrong with Atherin!!" Raven snapped, Shadow snarling.

"Nothing wrong with him!? He drinks blood and kills people for it! How's that not wrong!?" Through out his and Raven's arguing, Irvine, Moonbay, Fiona and Zeke were watching Atherin, occasionally glancing back to watch Van and Raven argue. Atherin meanwhile, hadn't said a word. This was why he hated having people find out...this was the reaction the he received most...

"For the sake of Eve Van... just shut up and sit down!" Raven shouted. He was on the verge of just letting Shadow eat him...

Van was about to argue again until Irvine covered his mouth and forced him to sit. "Alright, that's enough out of you Van. But I think we deserve to have some questions answered."

Raven quickly covered up the wounds, putting his glove back on. He glared death at Van, Shadow doing the same, growling dangerously at him...

"Alright, I'll let you go Van if you keep your mouth shut." Van nodded and Irvine let him go. "Alright, now let me get this straight...you're truly a vampire." Atherin nodded curtly. "And you're saying that he's not dangerous?" Irvine asked Raven.

Raven nodded. "If he was dangerous, would Ibeyla and I still be alive?"

"Good point... But it's quite plain to me that he's had a taste of ya. Care to explain that?"

"He was 'hungry'... that's all..."

Irvine and the others looked a little horrified, but not so much as Van had when he had found out. "So...you just let him?"

Raven nodded. "Yeah...why?"

"And you're not bothered with it? Or what he is?"

Raven shook his head 'no'. "Of course not... I mean, it doesn't hurt, and Atherin hasn't shown any aggression towards Ibeyla and I, so why should him being a vampire bother me?"

Irvine thought for a moment. It looked like Van wanted to say something, but kept his mouth shut when Moonbay hit him again. "Alright, works for me. He doesn't seem all that bad anyways." Irvine said after a minute. "Yeah, I can't imagine him really wanting to hurt anyone." Moonbay chimed in. "He-he. He's too sweet to do anything like that!" Fiona said smiling. Van was completely stunned. His friends didn't mind him either!? Was he the _only_ one who was _sane_!?

Raven looked over at Atherin. "You're off the hook..." he said just loud enough for him to hear.

"I'm glad... I really didn't want things to turn ugly..." Atherin whispered back.

Van still wanted to make his point across...and he decided on the worst thing for Atherin at the moment. "...B-But what about that town Redai? O-Or what you were talking about earlier? A-About something not being under your control...and...eating…organs...?"

"Damnit..." Raven muttered under his breath. "Redai? What's he talking about?"

"...The reason I was heading for Imperial territory. ...I...I got caught...in Redai..." Atherin answered quietly.

"Got 'caught'?" Raven asked him, just loud enough for only him to hear, "What do you mean by that?"

"What do you think? Got caught 'feeding' that's what..."

"How the Furher did you get caught?"

"...I didn't know yet of the other attacks. I tend to only go into town when I need to, so I wasn't up to date on things. A curfew was on that town, someone was out after hours and not only did I follow him, but a police officer as well."

"Way to go... so now Van knows you're dangerous..." Raven said knowing Van was about to start screaming about how he was dangerous...

"...But it's not like...I can help it... I had waited until the absolute last day I could go without 'hunting'... So then I only have to 'hunt'...once every two weeks..."

"I know you can't help it..." Raven said, "... but is there any way you can survive without 'hunting'? I mean, alongside feeding off me?"

"...Not that I'm aware of... It's like asking you if you can survive without water..."

Raven shrugged. "It was just a suggestion..." he said quietly, "... but, does 'feeding' off of me help at all?"

"Yes... If it wasn't for having to 'heal' you I'd be fine for about a week... If I can get this body then two weeks...but I doubt that that'll happen... ...As soon as I get my 'feeding' schedule back in order, it'll be much easier to make sure I don't 'need' a whole body..."

"Well... sorry I got my ass nearly killed twice today..." Raven said.

"The first time wasn't your fault. However...you instigated the second one by challenging Van." Atherin replied. The others hadn't yet noticed their conversation, something to do with Van and not keeping his mouth shut... He believed he heard Irvine say something along the lines of 'Don't go causing more trouble for them or us...'

"Well... I couldn't let those Spyrix eat Van..."

"True, but it's in the past now. No need to drag it up from the pits of hell and sulk about it."

"Yeah... I don't want to remember how I nearly was eaten alive trying to save my worst enemy..."

Atherin nodded. There were things that he didn't to drag up either; they were better left in the pits of hell. He watched as the others finally turned their attention back to them, completely missing their conversation.

"I can't really say I'm all to comfortable with what Van said, but I guess there're things even out of your control..."Irvine said as he turned to face the duo again.

Atherin didn't answer, not wanting to draw too much attention to himself.

"Yeah... well... Van shouldn't have been a nosy little twerp and eavesdropped on our conversation..." Raven snapped at Van, "You know, I would've thought that after saving your sorry ass, that you'd show Atherin and I some respect..." he said loud enough for all his friends to hear.

"Yeah, well...I wouldn't have needed it if you didn't dare me to go into that cave!"

"Van...give it a rest... Raven's just gonna counter back and you two will be in an argument once more..." Atherin said, getting out some more candy.

"...I've been meaning to ask ya, kid, why do you eat so much candy?" Atherin couldn't answer Irvine, he had just put taffy in his mouth and was now trying to chew and swallow it.

"It helps with his blood sugar... keeps him from getting hungry, right?" Raven said, looking over at Atherin. Atherin nodded. Taffy wasn't something he enjoyed eating too often, it getting stuck on his fangs, but it had lots of sugar and kept him occupied longer than pixi stix did.

Raven nodded as well. He was still a little angry that Van had shrugged off the fact that he had nearly died trying to save his hide from the Spyrix. He could have just left him and saved himself, after all...

Atherin finally managed to swallow the taffy. /Note to self...NEVER buy taffy again! / Atherin thought as he worked trying to get the taffy from his fangs. It never failed. It always got stuck on his fangs!

Raven looked over at Atherin. He had to keep himself from laughing. "You having some problems there, Dracula?"

"Shut it. Better taffy stuck on my fangs than you, wouldn't you agree?"

Raven thought it over. "Yeah... I'd rather you be picking taffy off your fangs than me..."

"Thought so." Atherin said as he picked out another piece of candy, that wasn't taffy.

Raven went back to petting Shadow. She was still glaring at Van, wanting to pound him into the sand. Van was glaring back at Shadow. He couldn't believe this. His friends were siding with the enemy! Atherin was still eating candy, now leaning against Eiji who was rumbled as Atherin patted his nose.

Raven patted Shadow's head. "Give it a rest girl..." he said quietly. He knew putting everyone on edge wasn't the best thing at the moment. Atherin continued to eat his candy. He needed to eat a lot to make sure he didn't 'eat' one of his...companions...

Raven noticed the amount of candy Atherin was eating. "Atherin... if you're that 'hungry', I could let you 'feed' off me again... but after they fall asleep..."

Atherin looked at Raven. "You sure?" He asked as he looked over to Van and the others.

"Yeah I'm sure... you need it, and after all, I told you I owe you for saving my hide..."

"But that doesn't mean that you need to offer every time I look a little under the weather..." Atherin replied. "I'm not gonna hold it over your head."

"I know... but you 'look' bad... and you're gonna eat through all your candy at that rate..."

"Heh, you're right about that..." Atherin said as he peeked into his bag, its contents only a fourth of what it used to be.

"As soon as they fall asleep, I'll let you feed. Can you wait 'til then?" Raven said, joking slightly.

"Yeah, it's not gonna kill me to wait for another hour or two..." Atherin said.

"That's good..." Raven said, staring back into the fire.

After about an hour the others settled down for the night. Everyone had pulled their sleeping bags out and were starting to turn in for the night. To make it look like they were turning in to bed too, Atherin and Raven pretended to hit the hay. When Van had finally thrown off his suspicions and went to bed, was when they deemed it safe enough for Atherin to 'feed'.

Raven looked at Atherin as he pulled off his glove. "Okay... just be careful this time Atherin... I'm still a little weak from earlier..." he said, unwrapping the gauze from around his injured wrist. He held it out and turned away, waiting for Atherin to start feeding.

"Alright... I'm better off than I was earlier..." Atherin replied. He wasn't going to reopen the wounds he had made earlier; it could get infected that way... So he made another pair of twin puncture wounds and began 'feeding' again. He hoped that this would be the last time he 'fed' off of Raven for a while. He _almost_ felt like a parasite, but Raven was the one telling him that it was alright.

Raven didn't feel much pain at all, but again it was the sound of Atherin swallowing that got to him. He closed his eyes, putting all his weight against Shadow as Atherin fed off him. He felt a little dizzy, but he 'thought' it was just because he was tired...

Atherin continued to 'feed'. He was tuned into Raven's heartbeat, making sure to stop at the first sign that he was taking too much. But, what they didn't know was that Van had woken up.

What Van saw when he woke was something horrifying! Raven was asleep and Atherin was 'feeding' off him with out his consent! He _knew_ that Atherin couldn't be trusted. This is what Raven got for trusting a monster. But he'd watch; just to make sure that Atherin didn't attack him and his friends next.

Raven cringed slightly, feeling extremely lightheaded. He tried to tell Atherin to stop, but he couldn't. He could feel himself going. He groaned weakly and his body went limp, losing consciousness...

Atherin stopped 'feeding' as soon as he felt Raven go limp. He pulled his fangs from his wrist, blood dripping from his mouth again. Before he could do anything to make sure that Raven was alright, Van yelled; "You Monster!! I knew you couldn't be trusted! And now you've killed another person!"

"B-But--!!"

"Don't try any excuses with me! Zeke!!"

Shadow was awoken when she sensed Raven pass out. She opened her eyes and saw Atherin feeding off him. That didn't bother her; she knew Raven had allowed him to. But when Van woke and starting yelling, she took notice. She got to her feet and gently set Raven on the ground, focusing on Van. Zeke suddenly made a move towards Atherin, and she immediately pounced on him, pinning the younger male to the ground, preventing him from hurting Atherin or Raven.

Van's yelling had woken up the others. They looked over to who he was yelling at and saw blood dripping from Atherin's mouth and a motionless Raven. They put two and two together...but...if Atherin had really killed Raven then...wouldn't Shadow have attacked Atherin...instead of Zeke? Before Irvine could point this out to Van, Van pulled out Irvine's pistol and took aim at Atherin.

A little stunned about all this and not being able to get a word in edge wise with a raging Van, Atherin was a little slow to register what he was staring down. When it clicked, he stood up slowly, trying not to provoke Van anymore. Before he could move Van fired at him. "Ahhh!!" Atherin cried as he held his side, and fell to his knees... Before Van could fire again, Irvine stopped him and wrestled the gun out of his hands.

"Irvine! Why're you stopping me!? He killed Raven!"

"No he didn't Van! If he had Shadow would've attacked him! Not Zeke!!" Irvine shouted.

"B-But he was still 'feeding' off him while he was sleeping!" Van argued back.

Atherin's breathing was becoming ragged. It wasn't a clean shot...he could feel the bullet still lodged in him. He needed to get it out, or have someone help him get it out. Shadow turned and ran over to Atherin, whining loudly. She looked him over, growling in concern.

Atherin gritted his teeth, it hurt...like HELL! "Sh-Sha-adow... g-get bag...out-ta E-Eij-ji..." he gritted out. He knew that he'd need to bandage his side as soon as he or Shadow got the bullet out. Shadow held Atherin down, inspecting his wounded side. She growled at him and reached into the wound, pulling out the bullet with her claws...

Atherin cringed when Shadow reached into his wound and pulled the bullet out, when she had gotten it out he felt...different...and not in a good way. His breathing became a little heavier, his heartbeat thudding in his ears. His last conscious thought was.../..Dear Eve...no... Not...again.../ Before his eyes turned to a crimson red, his fangs and claws elongating and his reasoning vanished.

He sat up, Shadow having gone to get his medical supplies from Eiji. The first thing he smelled was blood...and a weak body, one that wouldn't resist him. His eyes fell on Raven, still unconscious, before he heard other people...others he could 'eat' later. To make sure they didn't interfere or escape him he used his 'charm', the others automatically went back to sleep without questioning why. He then turned his attention back to Raven. He wouldn't be able to escape him.

He stalked over to him, but before he could take him somewhere, Shadow got in his way. He growled lowly, his eyes lighting up in an eerie way, his 'charm' also affecting Shadow. She stood down, and curled up, going to sleep as well. He didn't feel like getting his claws all gunked up with organoid entrails today...not when there were more important things to do. He grabbed Raven and threw him over his shoulder, taking off a little ways. When they were about a mile away from the others he set Raven down and hovered over him, his fangs bared…

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_**Author's Note:**_ ^^; This can't be good… What on Zi has Van done!? Will Raven wake up in time? And if so, what will he think of this development? Let alone of Atherin? You'll just have to wait until the next chapter!! Please Review!!


	11. Blood Lust

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do not own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia and Driacoul do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The character's Atherin, Azel and Eiji belong to __**ME.**__ The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if Redai is used without my permission, it was just a name I made up on the spur of the moment. However, if you use Jurei please make not of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ Here we are. Chapter 11! We left off on a…worrying note last chapter ^^; What's Atherin going to do with Raven? And if he makes it out alive, what will Raven think of him?

Warning: This chapter contains blood and gore…and a lot of it.

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me.

Thanks to those of you that Reviewed!!

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Ͽ Blood Lust Ͼ

Raven groaned, slowly beginning to regain consciousness. He immediately knew something was wrong, for he wasn't leaning against Shadow anymore, and he couldn't hear the fire. He slowly opened his eyes, blinking as he tried to clear his blurry vision. It took him a few seconds before he realized Atherin was hovering over him. "A-Atherin...?" he breathed, still a little woozy. When he didn't get an answer, he grew worried and concerned. He blinked his eyes again, and realized that something was very wrong with his friend...

Atherin only growled lowly in his throat. He didn't want to 'charm' this one, but scaring was always good before a kill. His eyes gleamed, showing off his bloody crimson eyes. The clouds shifted in the night sky, revealing the once hidden moon. The moonlight shone down, creating a shadow over his face...but Raven could still see his eyes and gleaming white fangs.

Raven blinked again. He opened his mouth to make a smart ass remark about him pulling 'jokes', but shut it, realizing Atherin _wasn't_ playing around this time. His eyes widened and he swallowed hard, seeing his sharp fangs and glowing, crimson eyes. He knew he was in serious trouble...

Atherin pulled Raven up roughly, his claws digging into his skin, causing Raven to bleed more. Then next thing Raven knew, his back was in pain. He didn't even realize that he had been slammed into a tree, until he felt the rough bark against his back. Atherin held him fast to the tree, Raven being hardly able to move. It was after he realized that he was pinned to a tree that he noticed that there was a pressure on his neck, and he could feel warm blood trickling down it…

Raven realized with a start that Atherin had bitten him on his neck. He panicked, beginning to struggle against him as much as he could in his weak state. "Atherin! What... the Helkat are you... doing?!" he forced out, not understanding what Atherin doing or why he was attacking him...

Atherin merely dug his claws in a little deeper, biting harder and growled lowly again. He wasn't going to let his 'meal' talk his way out of him 'eating' him. Raven yelped in pain, squeezing his eyes shut. Something had to have happened to Atherin after he passed out. "Atherin! Snap... out of it!" he said desperately, struggling against him.

Atherin growled again, but released Raven's neck. He pulled back so Raven could see his still bloody crimson eyes and now blood coated fangs. Atherin's eyes narrowed and he stepped back a step, before he flung Raven across the clearing, him coming to a stop a few inches before being skewered on a sharp rock sticking out of the ground at an odd angle. Atherin turned to face Raven, blood dripping from his mouth and his claws that were embedded in Raven's flesh.

Raven laid on the ground. He was already weak from blood loss, and being thrown across the clearing didn't help at all. The ribs that he had broken earlier had shattered again, and his breathing was becoming difficult. He coughed, spitting out blood...

Atherin stalked over to Raven and kneeled down in front of him. He used one of his clawed fingers to slice through his flesh on his cheek and down his neck until he reached the front of his shirt, before he pulled Raven back up, standing as he did so. Again, Raven was slammed into a tree, though not as hard as before, before he felt Atherin biting his neck again, drawing more blood.

Raven cried out in pain, trying to struggle against him, but he was too weak. He had barely any strength, and the fact that Atherin was draining more of his blood wasn't helping at all. "Atherin... stop!" he tried desperately to get through to him, not knowing why he was 'eating' him...

Once again Atherin growled, though this time it held a hint of annoyance to it. He pulled away again, though this time it wasn't gentle. His fangs were ripped out of Raven's neck. He let go of Raven and watched as he slid down the tree trunk. Again he kneeled in front of him, though this time, he plunged his claws straight into Raven's chest.

Raven cried out in pain, feeling Atherin's claws sinking into his chest. "Atherin!!" he cried in fear, knowing what he was about to do, "Stop! Please!" he tried desperately to get through to him. He knew he couldn't get away, and he knew that Atherin would just catch and 'eat' him if he did...

Atherin's eyes flashed back to lavender for a brief second before the crimson took over again. He ignored Raven's pleas and started to slice his flesh open with his claws slowly; enjoying the pain he was putting Raven through.

Raven screamed in pain, feeling Atherin's claws tearing through him. "Stop! Atherin!" he cried desperately, "Please!" he begged, knowing Atherin was about to 'eat' him...

Atherin stopped for a moment, eyes once again changing back to lavender before the bloody crimson returned. He continued to tear Raven open, making a crude incision that ran from the top of his collar bone to his navel. After pausing for a moment, Atherin dug his claws in a little deeper, looking for an organ that he could take out with killing his 'meal'.

Raven screamed in pain, feeling Atherin's claws digging deeper into him. "A... A-Atherin..." he choked out, his eyes starting to close. He had barely any blood left, and he could barely breathe. If Atherin didn't snap out of it, he'd start 'eating' him, and he'd die...

Atherin froze, his eyes changing back to their normal lavender. He looked on in horror at what he was doing, his claws were buried into Raven's chest, and both of them were covered in blood. He withdrew his claws slowly, trying not to cause anymore damage than he already had. He was shaking slightly; he had succumbed to a blood lust again...and had nearly killed his friend...if he didn't die within the next few minutes. He needed to do something to try and save Raven, but...he didn't know if Raven wanted his help...not after what he had done.

Raven was half dead, having a hard time merely breathing. He looked at Atherin, and seeing that he had returned to normal, he calmed down a little. He couldn't talk; he didn't have the strength to do that. His eyes closed further; he was about to die...

Atherin didn't have the time to muse to himself about what Raven would think of him. It would take a lot of energy, but he'd keep Raven from dying. He quickly slashed his less bloody wrist open and pressed it to Raven's slightly open mouth again. He was still shaking, horrified at what he had done and possibly what he had done to the others at camp...

Raven didn't fight this time, not having the strength too. He wasn't exactly sure if Atherin had truly returned to normal, for all he knew, he could just be keeping him alive so he could 'eat' him later. But he wasn't sure that was the case…

".....I'm....sorry.... Th-There's...no excuse for...what've I've done.... ......I....I really should....be locked up....."

"It... it's... o-okay..." Raven breathed, still extremely weakly.

"....But it's not....okay.... A-And you shouldn't be talking...'til I'm done...healing you..."

Raven nodded weakly and didn't say anything. He knew Atherin was back to normal, and that made him feel better. While healing Raven, he noticed the extent of the damage he had done. He needed to seal up the...incision…he had made... But now that Raven was conscious...sort of...he could ask if he wanted him to seal that wound... "...Do...Do you want me to seal that...wound up? It'll get worst if I try...to carry you back to...camp..."

Raven shook his head 'no'. "Call... S-Shadow..."

Atherin nodded and tried to call to Shadow mentally. He didn't know if she would hear him, but he had to give it a shot. Shadow lifted her head, blinking sleepily. Suddenly, she sensed Raven in pain and danger. She roared and jumped to her feet, spreading her wings and shooting towards where she sensed Raven and Atherin. She landed and saw Raven, and froze immediately. She started whining, her tail drooping, seeing how badly Raven was injured.

Atherin backed away from Raven so then Shadow could reach him better. He wasn't afraid if Shadow decided to hurt him or even kill him...he felt that he deserved something like that.

Shadow leaned down and nuzzled Raven. She was whining loudly, clearly upset. She opened her panels and wrapped Raven in cords, pulling him inside her. She closed the panels again, lying down on the ground. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and she began making sad, mournful noises...

Atherin backed up further away from Shadow and sat down on the opposite side of the clearing. His knees were drawn to his chest, as he waited for Shadow to either do something to him or let him know that Raven was alright. Shadow looked over at Atherin. She was _not_ at all happy with him, but she was much more concerned with healing Raven.

Atherin couldn't do anything about the blood on him. It had dried, and the only still bleeding wounds were from his slashed wrist and bullet wound. It wasn't as deep as before, but it wasn't completely sealed. That was one of the bad things about blood lust, besides the fact that he kills without a conscious about it, any wounds that he sustained right before or during took forever to seal...

Shadow stood back up after about fifteen minutes. She opened her panels, gently lowering Raven to the ground. His worst wounds were mostly healed, but he was still weak. Shadow closed her panels, remaining by him.

Atherin glanced up when he saw Shadow release Raven. He looked better than when he went in, but he wasn't about to go over to him and make sure when Shadow looked about ready kill him. Shadow looked over at Atherin. She wasn't in the mood to attack anyone. She was much more worried about Raven...

Atherin went back to trying to keep his wounds from bleeding any more. He had managed to get his wrist to stop bleeding and now he needed to try to get his bullet wound to stop. Shadow knew Raven was stable and alright for the moment. She turned her attention to Atherin. She stalked over to him, leaning down to him.

Atherin looked up at Shadow when she came over to him. His heartbeat became a little faster and harder in his chest and ears. He knew that he deserved to be hurt badly, worse than what he had done to Raven, but it still didn't mean his body didn't react on reflexes when it knew that it was about to be hurt.

Shadow nosed him onto his back, standing over him. She narrowed her eyes and growled at him, flicking her tail behind her. Atherin didn't resist her or flinch away from her. His brain was telling him to run, but his heart, even if it was beating irregularly, told him to stay and let her do whatever she wanted to with him.

Shadow growled and him and narrowed her eyes at him, snorting loudly, making her displeasure towards him known. She wasn't a forgiving Organoid, especially towards someone who had hurt 'her' Raven. She bared her teeth at him and growled at him, before she began sniffing at his wounded side...

Atherin didn't flinch when she made her anger known to him. He'd be hopping mad too if he was in her place. He waited to see what she'd do to him. Shadow narrowed her eyes further and bared more of her razor-sharp teeth. She'd have _loved_ to tear him apart for hurting 'her' Raven, but she knew Raven wouldn't have been happy.

Atherin was a little confused as to why she hadn't torn into him yet. He wouldn't have hesitated...even if his 'partner' was against it. "....I don't care...what you do to me Shadow.... I...deserve it...." He said quietly to Shadow.

Shadow snorted sarcastically, as if agreeing with him. But, she didn't want to upset Raven by eating Atherin, so she didn't. She leaned down to his wounded side, sniffing at the bullet wound... As Shadow was sniffing around his wounded side, Atherin's breathing got a little slower. Even though he had...gotten a lot of blood...his wound was still bleeding, and he didn't have any candy to keep his blood sugar up. He was starting to go into a cold sleep...

Shadow flicked her tail and began licking at his bullet wound, growling and flicking her tail. All her growling had woken Raven. He groaned and sat up, clutching at his chest. He was sore, and would take a few days to recover. He looked over, and saw Shadow, seemingly eating Atherin. "Shadow! Stop it!" he shouted at her, struggling to his feet.

It took Atherin a moment to realize what Shadow was doing before he figured it out. /...So....she's gonna eat me....like I almost did...to Raven.../ He should have been trying to get away from her, struggling vainly at least, but...his senses were beginning to dim...and his reflexes and reactions were starting to slow... /Am I....going into a...cold...sleep...?/

Raven managed to walk over. "Shadow... release him now!" he commanded, and she immediately did. Raven knelt down beside Atherin. "Damn..." he said, seeing his side."Shadow, go get Atherin's bag of candy and bring it back..." he said, looking at his Organoid. She nodded, and took off towards the camp.

Atherin had trouble comprehending what Raven was saying to Shadow. His brain wasn't up to par on what his ears were hearing. His eyes had a distant look to them and anything done to him wouldn't register until a minute afterwards. Raven was beginning to panic. To him, it looked like Atherin was dying. Shadow returned, dropping the bag of candy beside Atherin...

It took Atherin a moment to comprehend that Shadow had returned and had dropped something. His brain slowly piecing together the sounds that he heard, after another minute he realized that it was his candy bag. He had a hard time getting his bag open, brain sending the wrong signals to his hands, but he finally managed to get it open. /Damn it...my sense of touch...is gone..../

After five minutes had passed, an all attempts at grasping candy failures, did Raven finally put a piece of rock candy into his hand and showed Atherin that he had a piece. Atherin didn't need help getting it to his mouth, but it was still sluggish movements for him. Raven had no idea what was wrong with him.

Raven was getting more and more worried. He didn't ask Atherin anything, since he had candy in his mouth. He knew something was wrong, but not what...

Atherin ate the piece of rock candy slowly. It would take a lot of sugar to get him at least halfway back to where his senses were. The hard part would be not succumbing to the cold sleep. He wasn't out of danger yet, but he had a slightly better chance of pulling out of the cold sleep's clutches. Raven watched Atherin's condition closely, worried about him...

After finishing the rock candy Atherin had a little energy to sit up and lean against a tree. This way he'd be able to see where he was grasping. He tried to push himself up, but needed help in doing so.

Raven immediately helped him, leaning him back against the tree. "Atherin... are you a-alright?"

"...Vesa lsddo...ldiisnuj nu..."(…Cold Sleep…settling in…) Atherin replied, unaware that he was speaking the vampiric tongue and Raven didn't understand a word he had just said.

Raven blinked and just looked at him. "What... the Helkat?"

Atherin didn't answer him, he had managed to pick up another piece of candy, despite not being about to feel it, and had put it in his mouth to try and keep the cold sleep that was settling in at bay.

Raven sighed. Something was wrong with Atherin, but he didn't know what. He sat down beside Atherin, Shadow nosing his shoulder as she sat behind him, licking and whining loudly at him in worry.

After finishing two or three pieces of candy, some feeling returned to Atherin. Not a whole lot, but enough so that he was dimly aware that he really was leaning against a tree and not thin air. Being able to feel again had its goods and bad. He had already figured the good, but now...he was finding the bad out. His side felt strangely...warm....and wet... It took his brain a moment to remember the fact that he was injured and that he had not wrapped it up. If he didn't get the wound closed soon, he really would go into a cold sleep...followed by eternal sleep!

Raven looked down at Atherin's wound, and bit his lip. He didn't have any medical supplies with him... he thought. He looked into Atherin's candy bag, and saw that Shadow had put in a roll of gauze. He took it out, and began wrapping it around Atherin's wound, helping to stop the bleeding.

Atherin felt a tightness around his midsection. His eyes drifted to where he could semi-feel it and saw white gauze starting to be strained red, and a pair of glove clad hands. He knew who's those belonged to, but he just couldn't remember the name.

Raven bit his lip harder when he saw the wound was bleeding through. "Damnit..." he muttered under his breath, wrapping more gauze around Atherin's wounded midsection. He stopped briefly and put pressure on the wound, trying not to cause Atherin too much pain...

/...Wh-Who's...? Helping me...? / Atherin watched as the person helping him wrapped up his midsection more and applied some pressure to his gunshot wound. He could hardly feel it, his sense of touch refusing to give him anymore than what he had. "...Kmx...?"(…Why…?)

"Don't talk..." Raven said, not wanting Atherin to make the wound bleed worse by talking. He put more pressure on the wound, knowing he had to stop the bleeding... Atherin did as he was told and stopped talking. He reached for another piece of candy, eyes glued to his injured side and mind reeling about why he was being treated and saved. He had finally remembered who he was with, where he was and what he had done. So....having Raven helping him...wasn't something he had expected....

Raven sighed quietly. The wound had finally stopped bleeding, but he turned his attention to his wrist. Although the wound wasn't bleeding, he didn't want him to get it infected. He wasn't sure how Atherin would react, but he grabbed his wrist and looked at it closely, trying to decide the best way to help him...

Atherin tried to pull his wrist out of Raven's grip. "Aeu'i adldzcd...mdso..."(Don't deserve…help…)

Raven didn't let him pull his wrist back. "Stop it, Atherin... I told you to keep quiet..." He wanted to argue, but his strength finally left him. His world dimmed and lost its color this time... His eyes faded to a dull grey, an after effect of pulling out of a cold sleep. He'd need time before he was himself again.

Raven wrapped Atherin's wrist in gauze, covering the wound. Atherin was covered in blood, but he figured it was his blood, and not the vampire's. Just to be sure, he felt for Atherin's pulse on his neck...

Since Atherin had some feeling, be could tell that Raven was touching his neck. He knew what he had done, he could see the double punctures he had made, but he knew that it didn't hurt him too much... He knew that Raven had every right to do whatever with him, but he couldn't stop himself from swiping at Raven. It was reflexes and panic all wrapped into one when he swiped, his claws just barely grazing him.

Raven jerked backwards, expecting his claws to tear into him. But instead they just grazed him, not doing much damage. It stung and bled a little, but no major damage. "Damnit Atherin... will you just stay still..." Raven said, rubbing the fresh scratches on his arm.

Atherin didn't answer...Raven would yell at him if he did. But he still didn't understand why Raven was concerned about him. He had almost...eaten him...his own friend...someone who didn't care what he was... And he had betrayed that trust...

"Good... now please, just keep quiet..." Raven sighed. Shadow leaned over Atherin, sniffing at his face and throat. Raven allowed her, knowing she wasn't going to hurt him. He had realized the wound on Atherin had been from a bullet, and that Shadow had merely been trying to help him. But where he had received the wound, was beyond him...

Atherin blinked slowly, trying to determine what it was that was in his face. Not being able to see in color sucked. His ability to see in the dark dropped to five percent, so his night vision was now even worse than a human's... Coupled with his newly acquired black and white vision, shapes were distorted. When he finally figured out that it was Shadow, his heartbeat picked up again. He was uncomfortable with her sniffing around his neck.

Shadow nosed his throat, licking him. She was wagging her tail, growling lowly. "Leave him alone, girl..." Raven said, trying to push her away from him. Shadow snorted at him, not stopping her sniffing...

Atherin's heartbeat got faster and harder in his chest. There was a pressure on his throat as well as a wet sensation. He was _this_ close to going into a full blown panic attack. He pushed Shadow's head away from him, and checked to make sure that his neck didn't have any wounds on it.

Shadow snorted at Atherin. She did _not_ like being pushed around, especially by someone who had hurt 'her' Raven. She growled at him loudly, leaning down and sniffing his neck again. She tilted her head and licked Atherin's face, fanning her large wings slightly...

Atherin tried to lean away from her, but being against a tree made that a little difficult. He wasn't anywhere close to calming down, and a panicked vampire was something that Raven didn't want to deal with.

Raven glared at Shadow. "Shadow! I said leave him alone!" he said, pushing her away from him. She growled and reluctantly stepped away, laying down behind Raven, looking over his shoulder at Atherin.

Atherin relaxed a little, only a little though... His breathing and heartbeat were still irregular, but so long as nothing touched his neck again, he'd get his heartbeat and breathing back to normal in about fifteen to twenty minutes.

Raven kept watching Atherin's condition. He was still worried about him. He reached into his candy bag and pulled out a piece of candy, putting it in his hand. He knew Atherin needed to get his blood sugar back up....

Atherin looked to the hand that Raven put candy into. He still couldn't figure out why Raven was still helping him, let alone not killing him. His stubborn streak came back and he asked a question...though little good it did him, as he was still speaking the vampiric language. "...Kmx....? ...Kmx mdso wd....?" (…Why…? …Why help me…?)

"I don't understand a damn word you're saying, Atherin..." Raven shook his head, "Just eat the candy before you go crazy and try and eat me again..."

Atherin reluctantly complied. He didn't know that he was speaking his native language.

Alright, he'd try again after he finished this piece of candy. After finishing it he tried again, stopping Raven from making him eat another piece before he got his question answered. "...W-Why...? W-Why...you...s-still...c-con-ce-erned...'b-bout me...?"

Raven blinked. "You're my friend... Atherin... I'm not gonna... let you die... just because you nearly... ate me..." he said. Talking was still a little difficult for him. "I've... been through worse..."

Atherin was silent for a moment. Had he just heard correctly? Was he really serious? Was Raven really forgiving him? Even though he had nearly killed and ate him? ".....Wh-What do....m-mean...?" Speaking the human language was extremely difficult for Atherin at the moment, but he managed to make near complete simple sentence.

Raven sighed and closed his eyes slightly. "I... I... m-my Zoid... I... he... killed my family..."

It took Atherin minute to piece together Raven's fragmented sentence. "....S-So-orry... D-Don't...n-need...ex-xpl-lain..."

Raven nodded. He didn't want to explain it either, and reopen old wounds. "What about... you? Are you alright...Atherin?"

"......Y-Yes....a-and...n-no...." He'd live so yeah, he was alright, but recovering from pulling out of a cold sleep would take a while. Plus...there was the bullet wound to worry about. It would heal, but no amount of sugar would make it heal faster and neither would his energy transfer. It would heal just like a human's wound, but it'd heal.

Raven nodded. He was pondering whether or not to let Atherin feed off him, knowing it wouldn't be wise in his state. But Atherin looked like he needed it...

"...D-Don't...w-want....it...." Atherin said after seeing the look on Raven's face. If he 'fed' off him again, Raven would die.

"Are you... sure, Atherin?" Raven asked, "You're... hurt badly..."

"...Y-Yo-u'll...d-die...th-this...t-time.... A-And...w-wou-nd c-can't b-be he-ealed...w-with....b-blood..."

"I'd... die?" Raven asked, his eyes widening slightly.

Atherin nodded. "N-Need t-to l-let y-your bl-blood r-repl-lenish...its-self... N-No m-more...bl-bloodl-loss...o-or yo-you'll...d-die..."

"Are you sure... you'll be... okay?" Raven asked, sitting back down.

Atherin nodded again. He'd be alright; his body was just recovering from the after effects of pulling out of cold sleep. By morning, he'd be his snarky self, but with slower reflexes, and dimmed senses... In other words...he was going to be a 'human' for a few days.

"Should we try... and get back to... to camp?" Raven asked.

Atherin shook his head 'no'. He couldn't go back to camp...not after what Van had done and would finish if he saw him and Raven in this state.

"We should try... at least, just to see... if the others are... alright..."

Atherin really had no right to argue against it, but he was sure that Van or the others would make sure he died...if they weren't dead already. After a minute's thought about he finally agreed, and shakily stood up.

"You alright?" Raven asked, not knowing if he needed help.

Atherin shook his head 'no' again. He'd be alright walking there, slow, shaky and stumbling, but he'd get there. Shadow lead the way back, letting Raven use her for support. His arm was over her neck, leaning against her, since his ankle was still proving problematic...

Atherin followed behind them. His senses were truly shot and at the moment he was lucky that he hadn't run into anything yet. He made sure to keep Raven and Shadow in his line of sight at all times...least he gets lost and hurt even more. Shadow led them back to camp. Raven was positive there were going to be questions, and he began to wonder how long he'd be able to protect Atherin...

Atherin hesitated. He didn't want to go back to camp. He especially didn't want to go back to camp covered in blood and in a vulnerable condition. Eiji sensed his distress and reassured him that he would be on his guard. He also apologized about earlier...he felt that if he had been paying more attention he'd have been able to deflect that gun wound. Atherin steeled himself, he didn't want to play coward.

When Van and the others saw Raven and Shadow return they were a little relieved. Raven was bloody and battered, but it looked like he had killed Atherin. But...those thoughts were shot to hell when they saw Atherin emerge from the forest a few minutes later. He was covered in blood as well and looked a tad bit different, but that didn't matter. The fact was that he had attacked Raven and had done something to them.

They weren't going to settle for excuses. He was 'dangerous' and needed to be dealt with. But first... "Raven! Why's he still _alive_!? You should have killed him! He attacked you! In your sleep and where ever he took you!"

Raven rolled his eyes. "He didn't attack me in my sleep, idiot! I _let_ him!! I just passed-out, that's all!" Raven said, glaring at Van. "But Van, tell me this, who _shot_ Atherin?!"

"I did. But it doesn't matter if you let him or not. The fact still remains that that he took enough to make you pass out so he could probably eat you!"

"You shot him, Van?!" Raven snarled, walking over to him. He grabbed him by his shirt as hard as he could in his weakened state. "_You_ caused all this!! If you hadn't been so keen on killing Atherin, none of this would have happened!! And he didn't make me pass out either!! It was my own damn fault, but him trying to eat me, that was _your_ entire fault Van!!"

Van wrenched himself out of Raven's weakened grip. "How's this _my_ fault!? You say he's your 'friend' but I doubt you know anything about him except for the basics! For all _you_ know he might like to befriend unsuspecting people so he can betray them and get a kick out of their expressions while he eats them!"

Raven rolled his eyes. "If he was like that, then why has he been helping Ibeyla and I track down Rabe?! And why did he heal me after the Spyrix attack, if he could have simply eaten me then?! And you're the one to talk about betraying people!! You've betrayed Atherin; he saved your life from the Spyrix today, and you turn around and shoot him for no reason?! And after I was nearly killed saving you from the Spyrix web, I don't even get a thank you, and then you turn and nearly kill my friend?! You're the only one here that's betrayed anyone's trust, Van!!"

Van was at a lost for words. Sure he had seen Raven angry before, but he had never heard him _defend_ someone before. After a moment's silence Van gathered up his courage again. Raven wasn't going to tell him that he had betrayed anyone. He hadn't trusted either or them, so he really hadn't betrayed anyone. "How can I betray someone that I don't even trust in the first place!? You can say whatever you want about him, but the fact remains that he's still a monster."

Raven narrowed his eyes. "He isn't a monster, Van! It isn't his fault he's a vampire!!"

"I said you can say whatever you like about him, but to me, and the rest of the planet, he will always be seen as a monster. He drinks the blood of living people for Eve's sake! If that doesn't make a monster than I don't know what does!" Van argued back. Throughout all this Atherin and Van's friends were silent. Atherin trying to focus on what was going on, there were too many words for him to try and comprehend at the moment. After all, human wasn't his native language. The other's just watched to see what would happen. At the moment Atherin didn't even seem capable of moving, let alone attacking them again.

Raven turned back to Atherin. "We don't have to put up with this. C'mon Atherin, we're leaving..."

Atherin hadn't a clue what Raven had told him, but when he saw him heading to the BFSE he understood that they were leaving. Before Van could say something about it, Irvine had covered his mouth. He didn't want Van saying something that would get the dangerous teen even angrier and possibly fire a charged particle beam at them. After Atherin had gotten into Eiji he followed after Raven…

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_**Author's Note:**_ Well, at least Raven understands that Atherin wasn't himself…though Atherin really did a lot of damage and had nearly killed him… Another argument between Raven and Van ensued, though that's not exactly surprising ^^; Now that Raven and Atherin have left the group what will happen? Will anyone follow them? Or for that matter, sneak up on them? You'll just have to wait and find out! Please Review!!


	12. Jurei

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do not own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia and Driacoul do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME.**__ The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if Redai is used without my permission. However, if you use Jurei please make note of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ Last chapter Raven experienced Atherin's blood lust first hand, and it wasn't pretty. He's lucky that Atherin snapped out of it. Also, another argument between Raven and Van ensued, thus leading to Atherin and Raven leaving. This chapter is more of a light chapter, nothing too serious happens, and a much needed break is taken.

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me.

Thanks to those of you that Reviewed!!

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Ͽ Jurei Ͼ

Raven opened a link to Atherin. "Are you still doing alright?"

Atherin answered a minute later, his brain still trying to comprehend and now speak Raven's language. "...Y-Yeah... W-Where...goin'...?"

"We're going to Porto to meet up with Major Schubaltz and your Organoid..."

Again Raven had to wait for Atherin's answer, not really knowing that he was having trouble comprehending him, just not trying to form words. "...S-Shoe-bol-ltz...? L-Lookin'...li-ike th-this....?" Atherin asked, still miss pronouncing Karl's last name.

Raven slowed down the BFSE. "Would you rather not go to see the Major? We could always wait for you to get back to normal..."

"...W-Would be...b-better..." Atherin answered as Eiji slowed down as well.

Raven stopped his Zoid. They were about twenty miles from Porto. Atherin stopped as well. He didn't want to see the Major with him and Raven covered in blood. It would be much easier to explain to him what happened when they were clean and Atherin could speak in full sentences...

Raven jumped out of his Zoid, Shadow landing beside him. Eiji lowered to the ground to let Atherin out. With his pilot being as coordinated as a human, something his pilot wasn't use to, he wasn't ready to be jumping out of his cockpit from such a height. Atherin climbed down to the ground, he couldn't wait for the after effects to wear off.

Raven had started a fire and was sitting next to it. He glanced over at Atherin. "Are you sure you're alright...Atherin?"

"...Yeah... J-Just...af-fter ef-fects fr-from pu-pulling out of....a c-cold sl-sleep... Mo-Most of it will...be c-clear by m-morning..."

"That's good..." Raven said, staring into the fire, leaning against Shadow. "How's your side doing?"

"...It'll t-take...a f-few d-days...b-but it'll he-eal... L-Luck-ily...n-nothin' im-mport-tant was h-hit..."

"That's good..." Raven said, "I can't believe Van shot you... I never thought he'd have the guts too..."

"...It's...'c-cause...I'm n-not h-human... H-He d-doesn't f-feel g-guil-ty 'b-bout it..."

"If I had had the strength, I would've killed him myself..." Raven growled under his breath, "Anyway, how much candy do you have left?"

"...N-Not t-to m-much... I...I n-need to r-rest-stock wh-when we g-get to.....P-Porto...."

"I figured..." Raven said, staring back into the fire.

Atherin fell silent again. His human speech was getting better, a sign that the after effects were wearing off. Though...he wished his vision and other senses would start to recover soon. Raven was quiet too. He was exhausted, sore and in pain. Shadow may have healed him to the point that he wouldn't die, but he was still in a lot of pain.

Atherin soon fell asleep. He was tired too, but not as much as Raven was. Eiji was on guard, just incase Van had decided to follow them. Raven quickly fell asleep as well. Being torn open, bitten and fed off of had worn him out.

Morning quickly fell upon them; the rays not even disturbing Atherin. He had recovered his human speech, and some of his senses. Raven woke up, groaning loudly. He did not want to get up yet. Atherin still slept. His body starting to repair his injured side and putting his functions back in working order.

Eiji rumbled a sleepy 'Morning'...at least that's what Raven guessed it was. He had stayed up all night making sure that no one snuck up on them. Atherin was still sleeping, he wasn't about to wake up anytime soon...on his own at least.

Raven walked over and leaned down, lightly shaking his shoulder. "Hey Dracula, it's time to wake up..."

Atherin shifted slightly, before his eyes fluttered open. It took him a moment to realize that he could see color again...even if it was muted and dull. His eyes were now a muted lavender, not the bright lavender that Raven was use to seeing. His sense of touch was back too as well as a slightly heightened sense of hearing. "....This sucks...."

"I bet... you look terrible, Dracula..." Raven said.

"I feel terrible too. I don't see how you humans can live with such dull senses..."

Raven blinked. "Well... that's your problem Dracula... I don't have a problem..."

"Yeah, 'cause you're used to it." Atherin said as he made sure he could stand with out falling and hurting himself. His sense of balance sucked now too, but he managed to stand up without making a fool of himself.

"You think you can make the journey to Porto?"

"Yeah, I can make it now. Though…I still don't want to see Karl looking like this." Atherin said, indicating his bloody self.

"Well... what do you want to do?"

"We'll need a place to stay while we wait for Ibeyla anyways. So I don't see the harm in renting a room." Atherin said as he checked on his injured side. It wasn't bleeding as much, but it was still bleeding a little bit.

"I'm not sure about that... I think staying out of the city would be best. In our conditions, if Rabe tracked us down... well..."

Atherin thought for a moment... He knew of one place they could use. It was only about twenty minutes from Porto and no one would bother them there, but.... "...I know somewhere else we can stay then. It's about twenty minutes from Porto but...it's up to you if you want to go there." Atherin said.

Raven thought for a moment. "Yeah... if Rabe isn't there, I'm fine with it..."

"He's not there. He can't get into it. But...we'll have to get there by foot. Our zoids won't be able to fit up the path."

"Without our Zoids? Would Shadow still be able make it there?"

"Shadow'll be just fine. I just meant that it's a narrow mountain path. Our zoids won't be able fit, but it's wide enough for Shadow."

"That's good... we'll need Shadow keep watch..."

"...I don't think she'll need too, but an extra set of eyes never hurt. Raven, can the BFSE move on its own?"

Raven nodded. "Yeah... but it doesn't do anything without me telling it to."

"Could you ask him...or her... follow Eiji? There's a place where they can stay and be safe from anyone finding them."

"Yeah..." Raven said, before looking up at the sky. "I suggest we hurry and get there..."

Atherin nodded upon seeing the sky as well. He told Eiji to take the BFSE to the safe haven, before he started to lead Raven and Shadow to the hidden village Jurei.

Raven looked around. Something was making him really nervous. He felt like they were being watched... Atherin was nervous as well, but for a different reason. He had never showed anyone Jurei before. He usually visited once a year on the anniversary of the...massacre to pay his respects, but once in a blue moon he'd just visit because he wanted to be home.

Raven stopped Atherin. "Atherin... something's following us..." he said just loud enough for him. Shadow was alert, staring into the forest at seemingly nothing.

"...We're almost there.... Just five more minutes and we'll be at the entrance..." Atherin said just as loudly. He was just now starting to pick up on the 'something's following me, but don't run 'cause that'll make it worse' vibe. His human senses were really a pain; he'd have been able to get them there quicker if he was a full strength. Raven was getting more and more nervous. He thought he could see a pair of violet eyes looking at him...

Rabe sank into the shadows, moving in front of him. He suddenly shot up in front of Raven and Atherin in his true form, his wide wings spread and fangs barred. "Did you miss me?"

"Oh yeah...loads...." Atherin answered sarcastically. He could see the entrance just a few feet ahead of them. To Raven, Shadow and Rabe, it looked like any other cliff face, but to Atherin, he could see the entrance and path to the village as if there wasn't any wall there at all.

Raven swallowed hard, seeing the Organoid's fangs. He was thinking back to the story Atherin had told, and how badly Atherin had been injured during Rabe's first attack. He didn't move and didn't say anything, not wanting to get killed...

Rabe smirked and laughed darkly. "I knew you would..." he sneered. He opened his jaws to make a go at Atherin, but Shadow had other plans. She tackled Rabe, knocking him away. Rabe smirked, and melted back into the shadows...

"Thanks Shadow. Now come on, before he decides to come back." Atherin said as he stood in front of the cliff face waiting for Raven and Shadow to follow him.

Raven caught up to him quickly. "Uhh... what are we doing exactly?"

"Going to....my village.... But first...I guess it would be best if you could actually see it... Gimme your wrist for a sec." Raven looked at him strangely. But he did as he was told and held out his wrist.

Atherin held Raven's wrist in his right hand and bit his left thumb. He made a symbol on Raven's wrist that he couldn't read. After a second the blood glowed blue and sank into his skin, completely disappearing. "Alright, now for you Shadow."

Raven pulled his hand back and looked at his wrist in confusion. He was about to ask what he had done, but stopped, knowing he probably wouldn't understand. Shadow growled quietly and lowered to his level, allowing him to mark her too.

Atherin made the same symbol on Shadow's breast plate. It too, was red for a moment before glowing blue and disappearing, leaving no trace that it had ever been there. "Alright, now you two can come here when ever you feel like it...and no body will be able to follow you in... Unless they have that symbol on them. And no... It doesn't wash off. It's permanent."

"Great... this'll be perfect... Rabe won't be able to follow us..."

"Exactly, now come on." Atherin said as he walked straight through the cliff face. Raven hesitated but followed, walking through the face as if it hadn't even been there. Shadow immediately followed.

Atherin turned around right before they entered his village. "...I'm gonna warn you now...it's not pretty, but some buildings are still intact and there is a food and water supply."

"Don't worry... I think I've seen worse places..."

"....If you say so..." Atherin said as he lead Raven and Shadow into Jurei. Atherin wasn't kidding when he said it wasn't a pretty sight. Most of the buildings had been destroyed and burned to the ground. A scant few remained standing, but had their own fair share of damage. Some looked like they would just fall apart at any moment. The earth was a dirty ash color from the fires that had burned there. The little plant life that remained was just now starting to sprout and give the land life again. As Atherin led him to a building that looked in better condition than any of the others he saw a path leading off some where, and he was a little curious as to where it lead.

Raven quietly followed Atherin, his head down. He glanced silently at the burned and destroyed buildings, memories of the day Noah killed his family coming back up.

They reached the building that Atherin had lead them too. On closer inspection it looked like a house....and then it clicked... It _was _a house, Atherin's.... Atherin opened the door, no need to keep it locked, and walked in, Raven and Shadow following behind him. For some reason, the house had light, though no electricity wires could be seen. There were a couple pieces of furniture, a couch, two chairs and a dinning table, worn from years of use. Next to the living room was the opened kitchen, and in the back of the living room a stairway that lead upstairs to the bedrooms. "...Well...it's not much...but it is home... So...just make yourself comfortable."

Raven walked up the stairs and into one of the rooms. He laid on the old bed inside and stared at the ceiling. Ever since entering the village, he hadn't said a word. Shadow knew what was wrong and curled up on the bed beside him, her head on his chest. She knew to just let Raven think when he got like this.

Atherin made sure that the water was still running and that there was nothing wrong besides the place being dusty. When everything checked out, he went back to the door and went outside, the door shutting loudly enough for even Raven to hear it.

Atherin walked over to where the herb and medicine/ flower shop use to be. It may have burned down, but the seeds from all the plants kept there survived and had started growing in the place where the store once stood. He gathered four bouquets of flowers before heading off down the path that Raven had spied earlier.

Raven noticed how quiet it was in the house and got up. He still wasn't feeling good, both from his injuries and the memories. Shadow immediately got up as well. He walked downstairs and couldn't find Atherin.

Atherin placed the four bouquets of flowers on four graves of many in the cemetery. The entire village of 200, but Atherin was buried here.

Raven realized Atherin wasn't in the house and walked outside, Shadow following him. He looked at the old path and saw a small flower that had been dropped. He figured Atherin had gone that way and walked down the path with Shadow behind...

Atherin stood silent over the graves, still as a statue, as he said silent prayers and greeting to them. The wind blew; his hair and red scarf the only things moving.

Raven walked a little further and saw the cemetery. He then spotted Atherin, and the flowers on the graves. For some reason it made him stop. He sat down under a tree, Shadow laying down and curling around him. He drew his legs up to his chest. He couldn't stop thinking about his mother and father, and sister Silvia, and how he had let them die...

Atherin still took no notice of Raven; he was too deep in thought about his own family... And the fact that he had to bury them and the rest of his village by himself.

Raven's head was down, his eyes focused on a small piece of metal about the size of a quarter. It was a shard of Noah's claw. He carried it with him always; it was the only thing he had that tied him to his family. The silver tip of the Godos's claw was burnt and scratched, but it was still in the same shape as it had been when Noah had still been alive. He fingered it in his hands, sighing quietly.

Atherin finally turned from the graves and noticed Raven sitting beneath one of the few trees that still blossomed. He walked over to him and knelt down. "You okay?" Raven shook his head 'no', not looking up from Noah's claw.

Atherin didn't know what exactly was wrong with him, but he figured that something must have triggered a bad memory for him. "Come on, let's get you outta this place." Atherin said as he helped Raven to his feet and started to walk back to his house.

Raven followed, still looking at Noah's claw tip. Shadow followed behind him, whining softly. She was getting worried and upset...

They reached Atherin's home and entered. Atherin made sure that Raven sat where he could keep an eye on him. His strange behavior was starting to worry him too. "You want anything to eat or drink?"

Raven shook his head 'no'. He drew his legs up to his chest again. He gazed blankly at the damaged claw in his hand, his eyes empty of nearly all emotion. The scene kept replaying over and over in his mind, and he was only just able to keep himself from crying. Shadow curled up next to him, looking at him in worry.

Atherin watched on in worry. He sat beside him on the couch, before he asked; "Will it help if you tell me what's wrong? My lips will be sealed about whatever you tell me."

Raven nodded weakly. He reached over and handed Atherin the claw fragment. "This... came from... from m-my Zoid, Noah..."

Atherin looked at the claw fragment. It was burned and damaged, but it was still a memento...even if it did bring back awful memories. "...What...happened? And I'm talking about the full story...not just a little piece of it. Telling it might help to heal your wounds a little..."

Raven took back the claw and focused on it. "My... my parents were... researchers. They and my... sister, Silvia, went to... t-to a dig when I was eight. I... wanted to go, but they told me... to stay home. I... I-I wanted to surprise them... at the dig... so I put the nav data in my Godos, Noah. I... I loved that Zoid... I learned everything about Zoids with him... but... but that data had a virus in it. Noah... he went crazy. I... I tried to stop him from inside the cockpit, but the controls didn't respond... I was helpless, powerless to stop him. He... he killed my family right in front of me! I watched my mother, my father and my sister die, and I was powerless to stop it!! It was my fault... _my_ Zoid killed them!! If I had just listened and stayed home, they'd still be alive..."

"...It not your fault Raven. It was something that was out of your control. You were eight, a child; a child that just wanted to spend time with his family, even if it meant disobeying what your parents said. It wasn't your fault."

Raven looked up at him. "Do... do you really... think that?" he asked, looking back down at Noah's claw.

"Yes, I really think and believe that Raven. You can't blame yourself for what happened. Your parents and sister wouldn't want you too..."

Raven looked down at Noah's claw again. "I just wish... I could've stopped it. I... couldn't even save Noah... the virus, destroyed his Core... this is all that's left of him..."

"All that's left of him physically... But he'll always be in your memories and your heart...just like your family... They may not be here physically, but they're always with you so long as you remember them and keep them in your heart." Raven nodded, putting the claw back in his pocket.

He then looked over at Atherin. "What... about you? What happened here? And were those graves... your family?"

"Yeah...those graves were my family, my mother and father, older sister Ryoko, and older brother Tyme. As for the village...about five years ago some human stumbled into the village...which was weird 'cause it was hidden and hadn't ever been found before. We...tried our best to be as human as possible...but....someone slipped up. I don't know who it was but the fact was he found out.

When he left out village we tried to reseal the entrance to keep it from happening again, but before we could get the final seal up.....a....'hunt' had been issued....right outside our village entrance. The attack was quick...they were using weapons and specially made charms to make us even weaker than they were. I don't know where they got such technology, but they had it and used it.

My...mother, sister and I were sent to the safe house while my father and older brother went to try and fight the hunters off. We were ambushed on the way there. My mother was slain trying to protect my sister and me...and my sister was slain trying to protect me. I was nearly killed by the same attack, so the hunter presumed me dead too. I couldn't move. I was cut to deep to move, so I laid there for...three days until I could move... The stench of death was so thick and heavy in the air it...made me gag... I knew that I had to look for any survivors as well, but the fact that no one came to the caravan that was taking us to the safe house told me all I needed to know. But I still searched the village... After confirming that no one but me did survive...I went...to bury... everyone... making sure I got everyone's name right on their headstone... It took me....five days to get them all buried, but...I had to do it. I just...couldn't leave them...to the elements any longer..."

Raven was stunned. "I don't understand how evil people can be... I mean... everyone thinks that if something is different, it must be destroyed. That makes no sense to me. But... if all that happened to you, then why didn't you attack or run from Ibeyla when you met her? Let alone trust her and me? If I had been you, I wouldn't have come within a mile of any human..."

I tried to get away from Ibeyla. But she was too stubborn to just leave me alone... And...what good would it have done to attack you and her? What purpose would it have served? Of course I didn't trust either of you when I met you, but...when you both accepted me for me, I thought I could give humans another chance."

Raven smirked slightly. "Yup... that's Ibeyla all right..." he said, "... and you don't have to worry about either of us turning on you or anything. Just... don't try and eat me again, Dracula..." he teased slightly, returning to his normal self.

"Don't 'try'...? Are you giving me permission 'to'?" Atherin asked, smirking as well.

"No... We are _not_ doing that again, Dracula..." Raven replied, smirking.

"You're no fun... No fun at all..." Atherin said as he went to the kitchen to start making something to eat.

"Hey... it might have been fun for you, but not me!" Raven shouted after him.

Raven could hear Atherin laughing from the kitchen. He returned a few minutes later with two strange containers...well strange to Raven at least. Atherin tossed one of the light blue spherical containers to Raven, who luckily caught it, and heard some sort of liquid sloshing around.

"What's this supposed to be, Dracula?" Raven asked, looking at the thing. He didn't like the sloshing noise. "I swear to Eve, if this is blood I'll throw it at you..."

"Chill. It's not blood it's water. This container is the equivalent of your...what's it called....? Water boddle?"

"You mean a water bottle?" Raven said, now trying to figure out how to open it...

"Yeah, that's it." Atherin watched as Raven tried to open the container.... He had to admit, it was funny watching him trying to open the spherical container. "Need some help?"

"Yeah..." Raven said, giving up.

Atherin walked over and picked up the container that he had handed Raven. After turning it to a green spot that was on it he handed it back to Raven. He really didn't think Raven would appreciate it if he pushed the sphere to his mouth and water suddenly starts to flow out of it. "Now, just put it to your mouth and you'll get water." Atherin said as he took a swig from his own container.

Raven nodded and tried it. "Thanks..." he said, taking another sip.

There was a question that Atherin had been dying to ask ever since Raven and Ibeyla had accepted him…might as well ask it now. "...I...have a question for you..."

Raven looked up at him. "Yeah?"

"...My speech...is it....good? As in....no accent? Or...slip ups?"

"I think its pretty good, except you say 'boddle' instead of bottle, and the Major's name is pronounced Schubaltz. But other than that, it's fine."

"I'm glad... I've only been speaking the human tongue for about....four years now... Took a year to make heads or tails of it and your human conveniences, but I'm glad to hear that it's near seamless now."

"Yeah... if you hadn't told me, I would've thought you've spoken English your whole life..."

"Nope, only the last few years. The first time I had truly heard human speech was when I had left the village...and wound up in Porto. Though...Eiji and Azel helped me later on..."

"Well... I couldn't understand a word of whatever you were speaking earlier..." Raven said, taking another drink, "... by the way, you seem to be feeling better... so, do you feel alright?"

"I didn't realize that I was speaking the vampiric tongue earlier. I can understand both, so...I have to remember which one to answer in... And yeah, I'm feeling much better. I just have to wait for this wound to heal and the after effects to wear off and I'll be good."

"I wish I could heal that quickly..." Raven said, subconsciously putting his hand over the still-healing gash on his stomach and chest.

"....This wound will take a few days to heal...just about as long as those gashes will take... Which...I can heal if you want me too..."

Raven shook his head 'no'. "No thanks... it'll heal fine on its own..."

"Fine, be that way. But will you at least go clean up? There's a bathroom on the second floor, third door on the left."

"Thanks..." Raven said, getting up. Shadow got up and followed him, but curled up in the room he had been in earlier.

Atherin wanted to get started on making something to eat, but him being covered in blood and cooking....wasn't the best thing to do. So...as they were likely to use Jurei as a base of sorts later on when Karl and Ibeyla rejoined them, he went to cleaning up the place, while he waited for Raven to get done…which reminded him... "Hey!! Don't use all the hot water!! Unless you want to deal with an unhappy vampire I suggest you save some!" He yelled up the stairs.

"Yeah I hear you..." Raven shouted back. He was in and out within fifteen minutes. He sent Shadow to fetch his spare clothes from the BFSE. When she returned he put them on. He didn't put on the armor Shadow had brought back, thinking he wouldn't need it. He came down the stairs, dressed in his old battle suit, having tossed his tattered, bloody black shirt into 'his' room.

When Raven had finished and was out Atherin went in and cleaned himself up. He took a little longer than Raven had, as he was basically covered in blood and gunpowder from the gunshot wound. When he was done twenty minutes later he went to his room and got dressed in an extra set he had here, as he couldn't go get his extra clothes out of Eiji. His red scarf would have to be washed before he put it back on. He then went to go make something for them to eat.

Raven was sitting on the couch, Shadow now curled up beside him. Atherin came out of the kitchen about fifteen minutes later carrying two plates on his left arm and two bowls on his right. "Hurry! Take one of each!! They're hot!!"

Raven did, and looking in the bowl with disdain. "If this is what I think it is, I'm gonna throw it in your face..."

Atherin looked over to him after setting down his bowl of soup and saw what Raven was referring to. "Why in the world would I serve you blood? It's tomato soup for Eve's sake!! Just 'cause I'm a vampire doesn't mean I cook with blood!!"

"Just wanted to make sure... after seeing the way Van responded to your food, I'm a little bit apprehensive..." Raven replied. He started eating the sandwich first.

"So you've never had a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup? This is a human dish!! I've been good with my vampiric home cooking!! The only vampire foods you've eaten that I've made were the potato pancakes and naide! I've been good!!"

"I've had it before... jeez... can't you take a joke?" Raven said, eating a spoonful.

"Not when you're possibly insulting my cooking!" Atherin answered. He didn't want anyone to get sick from something he had made...

"Sorry..." Raven said, taking another spoonful, "It's really good..."

"...Thanks... I didn't mean to snap, but I don't want people getting sick from anything that I make... And if you joke about then I won't know if you're really joking or serious if I were to make you sick." Atherin said as he dunked his sandwich into his soup.

"Sorry..." Raven said, swallowing another spoonful, "It really is good..."

Atherin nodded, his mouth full of sandwich drenched soup, before he swallowed. "Thanks, but I still shouldn't have snapped. …I guess we'll have to bring Karl here tomorrow when we see him, I still have to get candy for when I'm not here in Jurei."

"Yeah... you'll need candy..." Raven said as he swallowed another spoonful, "... if you can't wait until we get to Porto, I've recovered enough to let you 'feed' off me again..."

"...I think I'll be alright. Here in Jurei I don't really need blood. In fact...if it weren't for the massacre, I wouldn't have needed blood 'til I was eighteen...and would only have to hunt once every four months...."

"But...since I left the village early...I need to hunt at least once every two weeks, 'til I reach eighteen. I know what you're gonna ask, how do I not need blood here, well...there's a crystal in a sanctuary here called the Heart Diamond. It allows us to not need to feed...and to answer your next question as to why don't I carry a piece of it with me, it's because one, there's a barrier around it and two it's called a diamond for a reason."

Raven nodded. "If only you could carry a piece around..." he sighed, rubbing his injured wrist...

"Believe me; I've tried to get a piece ever since I left the village. And I try every time I come back here...and I've still haven't any luck. I don't think I'll ever get a piece and I only have two years left before I only have to hunt once every four months..."

"That'll be great..." Raven said, rubbing the bites on his neck somewhat nervously.

Atherin looked down as Raven rubbed the double punctures on his neck. "...I'm really sorry about those...and the gashes that I made..."

"It's okay... honestly the bites didn't hurt that much... the gashes... a little..." Raven said a little sarcastically.

"That's not funny... I could of really 'eaten' you if I hadn't of snapped out of it. You're really lucky....the last person that was on the receiving end of my blood lust....ended up in my stomach..."

Raven gulped. "Yeah... but you didn't 'eat' me... you came really damn close, but you didn't... and I for one am _very_ happy that I didn't end up in your stomach. That wouldn't have been fun..."

"....The worst part is....I don't even remember what I did to you exactly. I can take a guess by all the wounds that I caused, but the last thing I remember before I nearly tore out one of your organs was having Shadow pull the bullet out of me..."

Raven blinked. "Not a thing?" he asked, "Well... you weren't exactly gentle with me..."

Atherin shook his head 'no' when Raven asked if he remembered anything. He hadn't a clue as to what he had done, but he could make a haphazard guess. "I could guess that I wasn't gentle..." Atherin said after 'waking up' from his blood lust with his claws sunk deep into Raven's chest and the numerous other gashes he had made.

Raven nodded. "Yeah... far from gentle..." he sighed, "But by the time... you started 'eating' me, I couldn't really feel it due to the blood loss..."

"....Then I must have really taken a lot of blood from you....for you to not really feel my claws in your chest...." Atherin said quietly.

Raven nodded. "After the second time, I couldn't really feel much of anything..."

"Ugghh, I feel so tainted!" Atherin exclaimed as his head fell back onto the back of the couch.

Raven looked over at him. "It's alright, Dracula. You weren't yourself..."

"But it was still 'me' that had hurt you."

"I know, but you didn't have any control. It wasn't like you were doing it consciously..."

"...That makes me feel only a 'little' better... But it's something all vampires have... If there are any other humanoid vampires..."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up Dracula..." Raven said, smirking and patting him on the back, "... you didn't eat me when you could have. It could have been worse..."

"Yeah, I could have woken back up with part of you in my mouth." Atherin answered and got up, before Raven could punch him. He picked up the empty plates and went to the kitchen to wash them.

"Yeah... that wouldn't have been a good day for either of us..." Raven said, stroking Shadow.

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_**Author's Note:**_ At least nothing too serious happened. Raven finally met Rabe and both Raven and Atherin tell of their pasts, like I said nothing too serious in this chapter. ^^; Please Review!!


	13. Rest

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do NOT own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia and Driacoul do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME**__. The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if Redai is used without my permission. However, if you use Jurei please make note of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ Here we are, chapter 13. Last chapter was a much needed break. This chapter…continues with that break but some old friends rejoin them. I have a feeling that this nice deserved rest won't last forever though!

To iwalkthelight: Sadly, neither of us has successfully found the manga on any sites…so we resorted to just buying them ourselves. As for the suggestion that you made, I'll get there eventually. Inspiration needs to hit before I take on any new fics at the moment. ^^;

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me.

Thanks to those of you that reviewed!!

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Ͽ Rest Ͼ

Atherin came back five minutes later and looked at the clock. It was still pretty early in the day, about noon, but as Rabe was in the area and they were badly damaged, it wasn't wise for them to leave the village yet. "...I know that there's not much here to look at, but you're free to wander around the place. It's better than staying cooped up in the house all day."

"It's alright. I'd rather not wander around in my state; I might hurt myself, like in the cave..." Raven said.

Atherin sighed. "Fine, I'll just open the windows and leave the door open then." He said as he went and opened the door, putting a stopper in front of it before he went and opened the windows. Atherin then went to finish cleaning the place up. He still had the upstairs to get ready too. Raven crossed his arms behind his head and closed his eyes, relaxing.

After finishing the downstairs Atherin went upstairs to get the bedrooms habitable for his future guests. After checking all the rooms, he found that he had some laundry to do...the bed sheets weren't something that he wanted people to sleep on. So he pulled them off the beds and headed back down stairs to go put them in the washer. So much work and so much time, but he wanted to get it done instead of just putting it off.

Raven looked up. "Do you need any help, Dracula?"

"No. I just have to get these washed and put back on the beds and I'll be done." Atherin answered from the kitchen where Raven could hear some sort of machine working. Raven wasn't too sure if it was a machine...he just couldn't tell with vampires and their strange devices. Raven shrugged and went back to relaxing.

Atherin busied himself in the kitchen, from what Raven could tell he was starting on supper...a slow cooked thing that needed a lot of time. There was a crash and a yell of "Damnit!!" followed by something that was probably _very_ colorful in the vampire language "Gznvtdu mdss!!" (Fricken' hell!!)

Raven turned his head and looked in the kitchen. "What'd ya break, Dracula?"

"Only all of the fricken' plates!!" Atherin yelled. He wasn't a happy camper. There were glass shards everywhere and he was barefoot, not to mention that the broom was upstairs and he now had to go find some new plates.

Raven couldn't help but start laughing. "Way to go, Dracula..."

"Shut up. Go get me the broom will ya? It's upstairs in my sister's room."

Raven sighed and got up, getting the broom like Atherin had asked. He walked over to him, his boots protecting him. "Here you go... just don't poke your eye out with it or something..."

Raven had moved before Atherin could swing the broom at him for that remark. He then went to sweeping up the shattered plates, making sure get all the glass shards and made sure he didn't step on any. He cleaned up the mess before he walked back to the living room. "I'm gonna see if any plates survived at the general store. Do you want to come with me?"

Raven shrugged. "Why not?" he said, getting back up.

Atherin pulled on his boots, jumping on one foot as he tried to get them on. After he had won the wrestling match with his boots he led the way to the general store. It wasn't a long walk and the building wasn't in to bad of shape either. Raven followed Atherin, Shadow still back at the house.

Atherin opened the door to the store; its hinges were a little rusty so the door squeaked loudly as it swung open. Again the lights just came on and Raven figured that where ever the lights were, they reacted to Atherin. "Alright, let's see if there's anything salvageable in here." Atherin said as he started to walk down an aisle. Raven followed him, a little nervous about the building's condition...

After searching for about fifteen minutes Atherin found some plates that they could use. "Alright, I won't break these ones." Atherin said and then knocked on wood so he wouldn't jinx himself.

"Knock on all the wood you want, those plates are still doomed..." Raven said, laughing.

Atherin glared at Raven. It wasn't his fault that his sense of balance sucked now. He'd have been able to save those plates if he still had his vampire sense of balance. He then lead the way back out of the store and back to his home. He set the plates on the counter; he wasn't going to put them back in the cupboard until he had his senses back in working order. He then went to finish prepping dinner and then he went back upstairs to finish cleaning. Raven sat down on the couch beside Shadow, relaxing again.

Atherin finished cleaning upstairs before coming back down and sitting in the closest dinning chair that he could reach. Finally, the only thing left were the bed sheets that needed to be dried and put back on the beds. Raven took the chance to catch a quick nap. Between the Spyrix, Van and nearly getting eaten by Atherin, he hadn't gotten much sleep lately.

Atherin wanted to nap too, but he still needed to get a few things done and make sure he didn't burn the house down if he wasn't paying attention to what he had cooking. The washer went off and Atherin then went to put the sheets into the dryer. Almost done, he was almost done. Raven had nodded off, but Shadow was awake. She got up and wandered to where Atherin was. She nosed his shoulder and growled in question, curious about what he was doing.

"Hmm? Oh...hey Shadow." After hearing her curious growl of a question he answered, "I'm just doing some laundry is all. And making sure I don't burn the house down..." Shadow cocked her head and growled quietly. What was laundry?

"What's laundry? Well...I'm washing and drying clothes. Of course...it's much easier with a washer and dryer than doing it by hand, but I still have to fold the clothes and put the blankets back on the beds." He answered. Shadow cocked her head. She had no need for clothes or sheets or anything, so the notion didn't make much sense to her.

"Well...I guess it's kinda pointless to you... But for me and Raven we need to wash and clean our clothes. You don't want us goin' 'round with our clothes covered in blood, grime and dirt and all that good stuff do ya?" Shadow growled in agreement. She turned and walked into the kitchen, and sniffed at what Atherin was cooking.

Atherin turned to see what Shadow was doing. "That won't be done 'til around seven....but I can make you a snack if you want something." Shadow turned and cocked her head again, growling curiously.

Atherin got up and went to the pantry he pulled out some angel food cake. He didn't know what exactly Shadow liked...if anything at all, but no one could turn down angel food cake. He set it on the counter before getting some strawberries and whipped cream out. "Do you want any of these toppings?" He asked her. Shadow shook her head no. She just wanted the cake plain.

"Alright." Atherin said as he cut a slice for her and a slice for him. He left hers plain but put strawberries and whipped cream on his. "Here ya go." He said as he placed it in front of her. He got out a fork and started to dig in. "...Hmm....maybe I'll make monkey bread for desert..." Atherin mused to himself.

Shadow snapped up her piece in one bite, growling happily. She leaned down to Atherin's level and licked his cheek in appreciation, wagging her tail and growling softly. "No problem." Atherin replied as he took another bite out of his cake. /Mmmm...sugar...and lots of it…/ Shadow walked backed over to Raven and curled up. Raven woke up and yawned.

"Have a nice nap, Sleeping Beauty?" Atherin asked when he saw Raven wake up. Raven rubbed his eyes and glared at him the best he could. "Shut up Dracula..." he growled...

"I'll take that as a yes." Atherin said as he cleaned his and Shadow's plates. Raven got up and walked into the kitchen sitting down. "When are we going to meet up with Ibeyla and Karl?"

"...I don't know when Ibeyla will get back with that suit. If there's anything that I've learned from Van is that he'll try to stop her from getting it to us. But as for Karl, I was thinking tomorrow 'cause of our wounds and Rabe being so close to us, but we can get him here today and I can send Azel to Ibeyla to show her where we are."

"Okay... that sounds good..." Raven muttered, still sleepy, "We need that suit if we're gonna stand a chance..."

"So we're goin' to Porto now? I can get my restock on candy then and not have to worry about it. I guess some extra groceries wouldn't hurt either...."

"You'd like to go to Porto now?" he yawned, what time is it, anyway?"

Atherin looked at the clock. "It's two thirty. And I was just asking if you wanted to go today."

"Sure... why not..." he said, rubbing his eye again.

"Then let's get going. I have some shopping to do and we have to convince Karl to hear our report when we get here, and... We have to convince him to let me put that symbol on him..." Atherin said as he made for the door after making sure what he had cooking wasn't going to burn the place down while they were gone.

Raven followed him. As he walked, he put on the armor Shadow had brought. He wanted all the protection from Rabe he could get. They walked through the hidden entrance back to the path that they were on before. After making sure that there was no sign of Rabe they headed towards Porto.

They reached Porto by two fifty. "Alright, where to first? Shopping or go looking for Karl?"

"Let's shop first..." Raven said, slowing the BFSE down.

"Okay." Atherin said as he maneuvered Eiji into the hanger. He waited for Raven to get out of the BFSE. Raven jumped down, Shadow close behind him.

"Let's go to the candy shop first. I'm extremely low on sugar, and I only have a few pieces left." Atherin said as he led them into the market place. Raven and Shadow followed him, knowing that he needed candy.

Atherin headed into the candy shop, he was literally a kid like a kid there. He grabbed the biggest bag he could find and started to fill it with just about everything, but taffy. When it was fill, he handed it to Raven while he filled another one. Raven held the bag, watching Atherin strafe the shops...

He filled another one and debated on whether or not he should fill one more up, just incase... /Oh what the hell. / He thought handing the second filled bag to Raven as he grabbed one more and filled it up. Raven blinked. "For Eve's sake, leave some for the other customers!"

"This is my last one. Promise." Atherin answered as he filled up the bag ignoring the gaping stares from the other people in the store. Raven rolled his eyes. "Jeez... I wonder why your damn teeth haven't fallen out yet..."

They waited in line after Atherin had filled his third bag to the brim. "I can tell you why if you want." Atherin said to Raven so only he could hear him. Raven shrugged. "Go ahead..."

"My teeth have a special coating over them that keep them from rotting, getting plaque or getting cavities. It's why my teeth aren't stained red from all the blood I've drank." Raven blinked. "Lucky..."

"I know. But that's enough talk of that. We're up." Atherin said placing his bags of candy on the counter. The poor store clerk hadn't ever dealt with someone like Atherin before. After getting over the shock he weighed the bags and told Atherin how much he owed which was 400 gold pieces. Atherin paid and he and Raven walked out of the store. Before going anywhere else Atherin filled his candy bag with two of the bags and held onto the third one. "Alright, now for some supplies."

"What other supplies do you need?"

"Just to make sure that we have enough at 'home' for us to last for a while. We don't have to worry about water, but a better food supply would make me feel more at ease."

"Okay..." Raven said, "Remember, Ibeyla has a whole mess of fresh fruit and stuff with her, she always does, so don't worry about that..."

"That doesn't mean I can't buy my own supplies just to be safe." Atherin replied as he sauntered through the market place stands, stopping every now and then to look some produce over. After half an hour of shopping and picking up some extra supplies did Atherin deem themselves ready to look for Karl.

Raven, during that time, had caught up on the rest of his sleep, sitting on a bench nearby with Shadow next to him. "Alright, any ideas about where to find Karl?" Atherin asked.

"I know where he is..." Raven muttered, rubbing his eyes again. "Damn... I just need to take a day and catch up on my sleep..."

"Well, you can do that tomorrow. Now, let's go find Karl before something happens to us..."

"You know, you're just _asking_ for Rabe to pop up and eat us, Dracula..." Raven said, leading Atherin back to the Zoids.

"He'd have done so by now. Neither of us have been really paying attention to our surroundings..." Atherin replied as he followed Raven back to their zoids.

"You see, it's like you _want_ him to show up..." Raven looked back at him, smirking, before he climbed up into the cockpit of the BFSE.

Atherin gave him an 'Are you serious?' look. "Why would I want something that nearly killed me show up?" Atherin asked when he had gotten into Eiji and flicked his vid-link on to Raven's zoid.

"Jeez... can't you take a damn joke? I never knew vampires had no senses of humor..." Raven rolled his eyes.

"Perhaps I'd be able to joke about it more if he hadn't of snuck up on us earlier today, and if my senses weren't shot to hell." Atherin answered as he followed Raven.

"Yeah..." Raven said, "Oh, I've been meaning to ask, that story about Driacoul, did you make that up?"

"No... It was the same story that was in the vampire legend book we found. But like I said, there's a part of it that was damaged and pretty much illegible..."

"Yeah... do you think Rabe would behave in the same manner?"

"...For some reason...I think it's the same organoid...though perhaps...a reincarnate?"

"Reincarnate? I doubt Organoids do that... maybe the Organoid in the legend was Rabe's sire or something...."

"That's a possibility...." Atherin mused out loud. "We almost there yet?"

Raven glanced at the radar. "Just another mile. By the way, what're we gonna tell Karl about the bite marks and how I got so injured?"

"The truth, but we'll wait 'til we get to Jurei. It won't do either of us good to lie to him..."

Raven nodded. "That'll scare him a bit, but he won't distrust you. It takes a lot to make Karl untrusting..."

"...I'm sure he'll understand that it's not like I planed for it to happen. And the fact that you and Shadow still trust me will let him know that I wasn't myself..."

Raven nodded. "Yeah... if Shadow trusts you, he'll know he can trust you..."

Atherin nodded, starting to eat his newly bought candy. He followed Raven to where Karl was. Karl's Zaber came into view, and Raven slowed his Zoid. He jumped out and walked towards the fire in the center of the camp. Karl was leaning against his Zaber's paw, Azel beside him. "Hello Major Schubaltz..." Raven greeted him.

Atherin slowed down Eiji and climbed out of him, he still didn't trust his new 'human' senses. He followed Raven toward the fire. Azel immediately went to Atherin and started to nuzzle and growl at him in concern. "It's good to see you again too Azel, as well as you Major."

"Hello Atherin." Karl greeted him. "Alright, we need to move. It's not safe here. About fifteen minutes ago I saw a boy that fit your description of Rabe- shoulder length black hair, violet eyes, and red shooting star-like mark across his face. We need to get out of here before he decides to attack..."

"There's a place that we can use that he can't get into, even if he knows about it.... And it's only about a twenty minute trip from Porto..." Atherin said when he heard the news that Karl had seen Rabe.

"Good... I really don't want any of you to get hurt. And, Ibeyla got here about an hour before you. She's in Porto now, but I radioed her as soon as my Zaber picked up on you. She'll meet up with us. Let's hurry and get going..." Karl said, getting in his Zoid. During the whole time, Raven had managed to hide the bite wounds and concealed his other injuries.

Atherin nodded and got into Eiji. He com-linked Karl, "The place that we're going to won't be able to house our zoids. So Azel can take your zoid with the others if it's not sentient..."

"My Zaber is sentient; he'll go where the other Zoids go. He'll also be able to warn us if Rabe sets up an ambush or anything."

"Okay and Ibeyla? Is she any where near us? We'll have to ditch our zoids soon."

And as if on queue..."Hey guys!!" Ibeyla said, Spectral appearing. She had been using Obscura's ability to cloak Spectral.

"Hey Ibeyla. We're going to a safe house, but you'll need to have Spectral follow Eiji somewhere else. We have a lot to talk about when we get there." Atherin said as he stopped Eiji and got out of him, Azel landing right beside him. Ibeyla nodded, getting out of Spectral. Raven and Karl got out of their Zoids as well.

Eiji lead the other Zoids to the Zoid safe house while Atherin lead them back to the entrance of Jurei. When they reached the wall, Raven could see the village this time, but Karl and Ibeyla didn't know why they had stopped.

"Uhh... what's going on Atherin?" Ibeyla asked innocently, blinking her emerald eyes.

"This is the safest place that we can be at and use as a base of sorts... ...It's my village, Jurei... It's a hidden village so right now you, Obscura, nor Karl can see it, but if you'll allow me...I can make it possible..." Ibeyla and Karl both nodded. Obscura nodded as well, wagging her tail.

"Ladies first." Atherin said as he took Ibeyla's wrist in his right hand. He again bit his thumb and made the same symbol he had on Raven and Shadow. As she, Obscura and Karl watched it glow blue, Atherin had already made the same symbol on Obscura, moving down the line before any of them noticed that he had placed that symbol on them. "Alright. You all are done now." Ibeyla looked at her wrist and blinked. "Cool..."

Atherin chuckled at Ibeyla's comment before indicating to them to follow him. Raven was much more comfortable about going into Jurei this time. Karl, Ibeyla and Obscura were a shocked when Azel just ran through the cliff wall, followed by Atherin who was starting to laugh at their expressions. Ibeyla was the first to follow, hesitantly following Atherin and Raven in. Karl blinked in shock at what he was seeing, but upon a nudge from Obscura, following Ibeyla in. Obscura followed after him.

Atherin was waiting for them when they had entered, he wanted to give them the same warning he had given Raven, so they wouldn't freak at what they saw. "I'm warning you now....Jurei isn't exactly in the best of shapes...but it has a food and water supply...and Rabe can't get in here." Ibeyla and Karl nodded. Obscura just growled. "Don't worry Atherin, Karl and I have been in worse places..."

"...If you say so...." He said as he led them into the ruined village. Azel had already gone ahead to the house, making sure that Atherin hadn't burned it down. He still had something cooking when he and Raven left earlier.

Ibeyla looked around. "This isn't so bad... this is nice compared to what I saw after the Death Saurer..." she said, glancing from house to house. Karl didn't say anything, looking at the buildings, not really knowing what to think. Raven stayed next to Atherin, Shadow alongside.

Atherin led them to his house. He just walked in, the door was still opened. Raven and Shadow followed after him and sat down on the couch. Atherin had immediately gone to the kitchen, making sure nothing was burnt. Ibeyla followed Atherin into the kitchen, Obscura close behind. Karl sat down on the couch beside Raven and Shadow. Ibeyla watched Atherin. "What're ya making, Atherin?" she asked innocently, blinking her eyes.

"Pot Roast and monkey bread" Atherin answered as he started making the bread.

"Sounds good..." Ibeyla smiled. She then noticed Atherin's eyes. "Atherin? Are you alright? Your eyes look strange..."

"...That's...a little....hard to explain.... But the short version is, I nearly went onto a cold sleep and my senses are basically the same as a human's right now. I'll be back to normal within the next day or so."

"You almost went into cold sleep?! You poor thing!" Ibeyla said, hugging him. "But... why did you almost go into cold sleep?" she asked, letting go of him. Obscura nosed him and whined, worried also.

"...That's the long version... Something....that can wait 'til after I get this stuff out of harm's way of being burnt to a crisp..."

Ibeyla nodded. "I can wait... but... does it have something to do with the puncture wounds on Raven's neck?" she asked. She had an extraordinary ability to spot small, normally unnoticeable things that most people missed.

"...Unfortunately...." Atherin answered, as he finished making his monkey bread, pulling it out of the oven. There were more people than just him and Raven now, so he set the dinning room table.

"Oh..." Ibeyla said, looking down slightly. She was upset that Raven and Atherin had gotten hurt while she had been gone.

"Don't worry too much about it..." Atherin said as he noticed Ibeyla's downheartedness. Atherin finished supper and placed it on the table. "Alright, after supper we can all catch up on what's happened with everyone."

Ibeyla walked out of the kitchen and told Raven and Karl that supper was ready. They came in and sat down. Ibeyla sat next to Raven, while Shadow and Obscura remained in the other room.

"Well no need to wait for me, just help yourselves... Oh, anyone want something to drink?"

"Can I have some water?" Ibeyla asked, taking a bite of the roast. Raven and Karl started to eat as well.

Atherin nodded and went to get Ibeyla and himself some water. He came back with two spheres again and set one down in front of Ibeyla. Ibeyla picked up the sphere. Unlike Raven, she had seen these before and knew how to use it. Raven finished his food quickly, and Ibeyla and Karl finished soon after. "That was really good Atherin!" Ibeyla said.

"Thanks...but I guess it's now time for...'show-and-tell'." Atherin said as he cleared away the plates.

Raven knew what he meant. "Could we at least go in the other room? I don't think you want a knife within Ibeyla's reach when you tell her..." Raven said, smirking slightly. Ibeyla mock glared at him and elbowed him lightly.

Atherin nodded and followed after the others. He sat in one of the chairs while the others sat on the couch. "Alright, who wants to go first?"

Raven looked over at him. "You go first..."

"Where to start..... Well...after we had left you to head to Porto and had made camp, some of Van's friends showed up. After he and Raven argued for the better part of an hour or so, Van finally had the balls to show his friends that I was truly a vampire by showing them Raven's wrist with out his consent. Some more talking ensued after that, but for the most part his friends didn't have a problem with me, but Van did. And that's where trouble started to brew..."

"After we 'thought' Van and his friends were asleep, I offered to let Atherin 'feed' off me. But, I hadn't recovered enough from the Spyrix attack, and I passed out a few minutes after he started..."

"...When I felt Raven pass out I immediately stopped and went to check on him, but before I could....Van...happened.... He said some things, like 'You monster' and all that before he pulled a gun on me... He shot me in my side but before he could kill me, his friend Irvine stopped him. The...last thing that I....remember....was Shadow....pulling the bullet from me.........before............."

"When I regained consciousness, Atherin had taken me away from the group. The shock from the bullet made you go into... what did you call it? Blood lust?"

Atherin nodded. That's all he knew about what happened before he snapped out of it. ....With his claws sunk into Raven's chest....

"Well... he slammed me into a tree, and bit me on my neck. I couldn't really fight; I was still recovering from the Spyrix and letting Atherin 'feed' off me. He let go me, and threw me across the clearing I was in. That shattered the ribs I had broken in the Spyrix attack, and knocked me for a loop..."

".....Before I could....do much more damage to him, I snapped out of the blood lust... When I saw what I had done....I tried to 'heal' him as best I could.... I....I was.....absolutely.....horrified and....disgusted at what I....had done... shortly after my attempt at 'healing' I called for Shadow...and she healed him... It was....shortly after that...that I nearly...went into a cold sleep..."

Ibeyla and Karl stared at Atherin. "I knew I shouldn't have left you two alone with Van..." Ibeyla said, looking down sadly. Karl was too shocked to speak. Atherin didn't say anything. They didn't want Van with them either! But it was Van; he wouldn't just let them be, even if Ibeyla had been with them.

"But... you two are fine now. That's all that matters..." Ibeyla said. Karl nodded in agreement. "We'll be fine in a few days. Both of us have wounds that need to heal, and my senses need to return...."

"That's good... we'll need both of you at fully strength when we face Rabe..." Karl said. Atherin nodded. They needed to be rested and prepared when they faced off against Rabe. Atherin stood up and stretched out, he still needed sleep as he was tired still. He looked at the clock, it was only nine, but it felt like it was 3 in the morning. "I'll show you where you're sleeping." Atherin yawned as he headed upstairs.

Karl and Ibeyla got up and followed him. Raven and Shadow got up and went to the room he was using. Obscura had followed Ibeyla, so Shadow followed Raven, having no one to play with.

Atherin opened one room, it was a little larger than the others, but that was because it held a larger bed. "You can use this room Karl." Atherin said before taking Ibeyla to his sister's room. It was right across from his, as Raven's was across from Karl's. "Here Ibeyla, this one's yours..."

Ibeyla nodded. "Thank you Atherin..." she said as she walked in. Karl had sat down on the bed, taking off his shoes. Obscura had woken up, and ran up after Ibeyla into her room. Raven had already gone to sleep, Shadow curled up on the bed beside him, his door cracked open.

As Atherin was just about to crawl into bed he remembered that the front door was wide open. "Hey Azel...? You don't mind going to close the front door do ya?" Azel growled softly, understanding that his partner was dead tired. He went back downstairs and shut the door, locking it before heading back up stairs, finding that Atherin was already fast asleep.

Morning came too quickly for a few of the house's residents. Raven rolled over and groaned, blinking his eyes open. He sat up and stretched, waking Shadow up. She lifted her head and yawned. Ibeyla was already up, outside looking at the flowers in the remains of the old herb shop, Obscura with her. Karl was still sleeping.

Atherin was dead to the world. If someone were to try to wake him up. They'd probably have better luck convincing a wall to jump. And if they tried to check to make sure that he really was still alive, they'd panic. His heartbeat was incredibly low, about twenty beats per minutes. Azel was already up, and downstairs. He was patiently waiting for his partner to wake up.

Raven got up, sliding out of bed. He was still in his battle suit, but his armor was on the dresser. Shadow leaned over to him and licked his hair, trying to make it stay flat from where he had been sleeping. Raven just pushed her head away and walked sleepily down the stairs. He laid down on the couch, waiting for the others to get up. He could see Ibeyla through the open door, picking some of the flowers and herbs.

Azel wandered in from the kitchen when he heard someone come downstairs. He was a little disappointed that it wasn't his partner, but he was still glad to see someone other than himself and the young zoidian girl up. He cocked his head and made a curious 'prrt' noise, almost as if he was making sure Raven was alright. Raven looked up and saw Azel. "Hey Azel..." he yawned.

Azel cocked his head and purred a question again. He was much more vocal than the last time Raven had met him. But with Atherin still sleeping, he didn't know what Azel thought of him or might try to do to him. Shadow lifted her head and snorted at Azel. Not threateningly, just curiously.

Azel took a step forward. Atherin had said that they were his friends, and he wanted to know what a 'friend' was. Sure, he had heard Atherin call him and Eiji his friends, but he and Eiji considered themselves his family.

Shadow leaned a little closer and sniffed Azel's face, not moving from where she was curled up beside Raven. Azel purred again, cocking his head like a bird as Shadow checked him out. He was curious about Shadow and the other organoid, Obscura he believed she was called, but he was more curious about their partners.

Shadow growled quietly and curiously. She had only met a male Organoid once before, and she was a little nervous around him. Azel laid down on the floor beside the couch. He was more than tall enough to see both Shadow and Raven and nose them if he wanted to. "Prrt?" Azel questioned as he nosed Raven's hand.

"Hey Azel..." Raven said, rubbing his snout.

Azel rumbled a little louder at the contact, looking almost like an over grown house cat. He was still curious about what a 'friend' was and so nosed Raven again. Was there something special about them? Raven rubbed him between his eyes. Shadow looked at Azel curiously, finally getting up from the couch.

Azel looked over to Shadow when she got up. Yeah, he wanted to know more about his other two organoid companions, but their human/zoidian companions came first. He looked back to Raven. "Hummm?"

"What Azel?" Raven asked, not knowing what the Organoid wanted.

Azel only looked at him. He had thought he had made his question loud and clear, but he guessed not... He hummed his question again, hoping that this time Raven would tell him what a 'friend' was.

Raven stroked his muzzle again. "A friend? You don't know what a friend is?" Azel shook his head 'no'. Atherin didn't have any friends besides him, Ibeyla, and the Major. So he didn't know what a 'friend' was.

"A friend is... um..." Raven stopped. He'd never had to explain what a friend was before. "... it's... someone you trust, sorta like family..."

"Hrrmmm?" Family? Were they now Atherin's family too?

Raven patted Azel's snout again. "Why don't you go see Ibeyla?"

Azel whined, but got up to go find Ibeyla anyways. He outside and looked around for the zoidian girl. Ibeyla was still in the remains of the herb shop, picking some flowers and herbs to make medicine.

Azel located Ibeyla and went to her. He nudged her on her back and hummed the same question that he had asked Raven.

"Oh... hello Azel..." Ibeyla said sweetly, patting his snout gently. "Friends? Well... friends are people you trust and love like family..."

"Prrttt?" So she, Raven, the Major and their organoids were now Atherin's family too? He needed to know. He didn't want Atherin to get hurt if it turned out to be not true.

Ibeyla stroked his snout. "I guess we are Atherin's family now. Don't worry Azel, we'd never hurt Atherin or you and Eiji..."

Azel rumbled happily and leaned into her caressing. That's all he wanted to know. He just wanted to make sure that Atherin wouldn't get hurt after Rabe was dealt with. Ibeyla giggled, continuing to stroke his muzzle. Obscura walked over to Azel and sniffed his face. She wagged her tail and cooed. She had never seen a male before, besides Zeke.

Azel looked at Obscura when she cooed at him. He purred playfully, instigating playtime and a lot of noise and havoc. Obscura smirked, spreading her ruby wings and roaring playfully. She nosed him, and flew into the air, an Organoid version of tag.

Azel pulled out his lavender wings and took off after her, roaring loudly, but in a playful manner. He caught up to her and nosed her, Obscura becoming it, as he turned on a dime and flew off in a different direction.

Obscura growled playfully and shot after him, ducking and weaving in the air gracefully like a bird... Azel saw her behind him and pulled some aerial maneuvers of his own. He pulled his wings close to his body and plummeted, rocketing to the ground, disappearing right in front of Obscura before he pulled them out again and hovered just inches above the ground.

Obscura dove and pounced on him playfully, nosing him before she turned and shot into the air, vanishing as she turned invisible... Azel shot up after her, unfazed by the fact that she had become invisible. He plotted where she would be and distorted the space around him, using a small worm hole to appear right next to her, before flying upside down over her so he could nose her head and take off elsewhere.

Obscura huffed and shot after him, roaring loudly. Azel stopped in mid flight and right before Obscura could tag him, he shot upwards, throwing Obscura off balance as to where he was exactly.

Obscura snorted and shot after him. Shadow was growing curious as to all the noise outside. She got up and wandered outside. Azel moved out of the way before Obscura could tag him again. He shot off in the other direction roaring playfully. Though out all this noise Atherin still slept. He probably wouldn't wake until around noon.

Obscura shot after him, growling loudly. Shadow watched from the porch, and Ibeyla continued picking the herbs and flowers. Azel dove again, skimming the top of some tall grasses that were growing along the crystal clear pond in the village. Obscura shot after him, but misjudged the distance and crashed into the water. She swam to the surface, coughing up a fish, a lily pad on top of her head.

Azel turned around when he heard a loud splash behind him. He hovered over Obscura, still out of her reach, growling to make sure she hadn't hurt herself. Obscura spit out a fish and growled back. She was fine, but her leg hurt. She had hit an underwater log when she crashed into the water. And one of her wings was sore from the impact.

Azel lowered a little more, offering to help her out if she needed it, putting their game on hold. Obscura growled to him. She needed help up. Azel lowered so it looked like he was standing on the water. He bent down, and grabbed Obscura with his clawed hands, flying them back to the shore.

Obscura managed to stand, but limped up onto the shore slightly. She folded her wings, shaking the lily pad from her crest. Azel put his wings away too, and nosed Obscura in concern. Obscura growled softly and licked his face, telling him she was okay.

Azel nodded and walked back with her to Ibeyla, just to make sure. When they had made it back to her and she had patted him muzzle he went to check on Raven and Atherin. He knew that both boys were injured and that they needed rest. He also needed to wake Karl up. It wasn't like him to sleep in this late, not from what he had seen when he was helping him patrolling Porto.

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_**Author's Note:**_ So Karl and Ibeyla rejoin Atherin and Raven. Every one gets all caught up on what had happened and some bonding happens, nothing too scary or dangerous yet. ^^; However, how long will this peace last? Please Review!!


	14. Battle

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do NOT own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia and Driacoul do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME**__. The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if Redai is used without my permission, however, if you use Jurei please make note of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ Here it is, chapter 14! Last chapter nothing too exciting happened. The Organoids were introduced to Azel, having never really been introduced to him. This chapter…all that ends…but you'll just have to read and find out how.

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me. Thanks to those of you that Reviewed!!

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Ͽ Battle Ͼ

Ibeyla used her necklace to heal Obscura, and within moments she was perfectly fine again. Azel had gone back to the house to check in on the boys.

Raven had dozed off on the couch, and Shadow was curled up beside him. Karl was still sleeping. He hadn't gotten much sleep while patrolling Porto.

Azel checking in on Raven, and after seeing that he was dozing, went to check on Atherin. He nosed the door opened and went to over to his bed. The boy hadn't moved at all last night, but Azel could see his vital signs were all right. He nosed him, seeing if he would get any reaction. When he didn't get any he snorted, ruffling his hair up before he pulled the covers back over him. He then went to check on Karl. He nosed his door open and walked over to Karl. He nosed him, seeing what kind of reaction he'd get.

Karl groaned and rolled over. He didn't want to get up yet. Azel hummed in annoyance. Karl was kind of up, but not up enough to be considered awake. He pulled the covers off him, seeing if this would wake him up.

Karl opened his eyes. "What?" he yawned.

Azel hummed at him again, nosing him to really wake him. Karl put his hand on Azel's muzzle. "Okay... I'm awake..." he groaned, sitting up. Azel licked his hand before going back downstairs. The only thing that they had to now was waiting for Atherin to wake up.

Karl reached over and grabbed his hat. He had slept in his clothes, having left his spare clothes in his Zaber. He got up and walked downstairs. Azel was curled up near the couch, waiting for Atherin to wake up. If Raven were to wake up and start walking without paying attention, he'd trip over Azel.

Raven was awoken by Shadow licking his hair again. She kept growling about how he kept messing it up. "Leave me alone Shadow..." he groaned sleepily, swatting her nose. Azel lifted his head, his eyes focused where Atherin's room was. The boy was starting to stir, which was good, but the others didn't know that.

Raven pushed Shadow's head away and sat up, rubbing his eyes. He didn't really want to wake up yet. Azel purred. Atherin was starting to wake up. He'd be down within the next half an hour.

Raven looked down upon hearing the purr. "Oh... hey Azel..." Azel looked back when he heard Raven talk to him. He wagged his tail a little, before he looked back up at the ceiling where Atherin's room was located.

"Is Atherin finally awake?" he yawned. Azel shook his head 'no', but his eyes never left the ceiling where Atherin was located.

"Jeez... he could probably sleep through the Death Saurer's rampage..."

Azel sighed, Raven was probably right; Atherin probably could sleep through it in this condition. About fifteen minutes later Atherin came downstairs, looking dead tired, but at least he was up.

Raven looked up. "You look horrible, Dracula..." he joked.

"...Lmpi po...." Atherin mumbled, rubbing his eyes. They were nearly back to their normal bright lavender, but they weren't quite there yet.

Raven blinked. "What the Helkat did you say?" he said, looking at him oddly.

"....S...Shut....up....." Atherin repeated in the correct language this time.

"That's better..." Raven said, smirking. Atherin just glared at him as he sat down in one of the chairs. He wasn't a 'morning' person.

"Jeez... you look like the living dead, Dracula. You sure you're still alright?"

".....Just....tired...." Atherin answered, catching himself from answering in the vampiric language. He'd be fully awake soon enough.

"Yeah... well you look it..." Raven joked.

"....Furher....you...."

Raven scoffed. "I'd say the same thing, but not in front of Karl or Ibeyla..."

"Gpmdz xep... Is that better?"

Raven looked out at Ibeyla. She didn't appear to hear. "I'd be careful; I think Ibeyla knows a little vampire..."

"Thanks for the warning." Atherin replied as he scratched behind Azel's head.

"Yeah... and she'll snap if you curse around her. Believe me, I know..."

"I'll watch my mouth then. We gonna go over plans today or just rest and let our bodies heal?"

"Plans. The sooner we take care of Rabe, the better..." Atherin nodded. They needed to start planning for their assault. "Then we might as well call Ibeyla in here to get this over with." Raven called Ibeyla in. She sat down beside Raven. Karl came in from the kitchen as well.

"Ibeyla, did Dr. D say anything about the battle suits that we should know about?" Atherin asked.

"Umm... well he said to make sure Rabe doesn't get his claws in the side seems... I think that's all..."

"I'm pretty sure Rabe won't be looking for our seams to rip out." Atherin mumbled. "Anyways, how are we going to go about this? We haven't a clue as to how to combat him."

"Well..." Ibeyla stroked her necklace in thought, "... Vareix like to ambush prey. Maybe we could take advantage of that?"

"How though? He's an organoid. Even if he were to try and ambush us in his humanoid form, he's metal underneath....trust me...."

"Umm... if we trap him or get him by surprise, we could knock him unconscious before he could hurt us..."

"...Even if we could trap him some how we'd still need a backup plan. There's a good chance that it'll fail and either Raven or myself will get hurt."

"Well...what about some sort of escape plan? Like... blind him or something? Vareix are vulnerable to certain herbs and stuff..."

"That means that one of us still has to get close to his mouth full of teeth, if we can't trap him and knock him unconscious."

"That's why it's a backup plan..." Ibeyla replied.

"True. But there's still the question of how're we gonna trap him…"

"Well... Vareix are naturally curious. And are drawn to the smell of blood and those that they sense are weak..."

"...So...we set up an area where we just leave one of us 'injured' and wait for him to come so we can trap him with what?"

"A net would work if he was in human form..."

"He won't attack us in human form. He'll attack us in his organoid form... He likes to try and scare us..."

"A net would still work in his Organoid form..."

"...It's worth a shot.... But....where are we gonna set this trap up? I don't think Porto would be a good stage... I think it should be set up around this area. We'll be able to get back here incase something were to go wrong."

"True... but we'd have to lure him here somehow...

"...I think he's taken quiet a shine to me. I don't mind playing decoy to get him here."

"But in your state, if he catches you..."

"I'll have my senses, strength and speed back by tomorrow.... The only thing that might hinder me would be this gunshot wound. But if you're talking about who's in a better condition I think I'm better off that Raven."

"Yeah, I'll take another day or two to get my strength back..." Raven said.

"So... is that the plan? To trap him?" Ibeyla asked.

"It's the best that we have right now... We just need to know who's going to be doing what."

"Well... whose going to be the bait is more of the question..." Raven asked, crossing his arms.

"It's either between me and you. He doesn't know about Karl yet."

"Joy..." Raven said, "... which of the two of us wants to be the bait for a bloodthirsty Vareix with an attitude..."

"I'll flip a coin with ya."

"Nah... I'll do it..." Raven said, "You're more of a threat to him, and you'll be able to do more damage when you ambush him..."

"So...you'll be luring him too? Or is that still me?"

"You'll have to do that... I can't run in my state... better yet, if he is anywhere nearby, he'll come the moment he smells blood... you might not even have to lure him in..."

"True, he did sneak up on us here.... I don't think he would've gone too far knowing that we're in the area.... We just need to make sure we don't underestimate him..."

"Yeah... but honestly if he's hungry, he'll rush in blind..." Ibeyla said, "That'll make things easy..."

"I hope so... He was hungry when he attacked me.... and I just managed to escape him..."

"That makes me feel _so_ much better, Dracula..." Raven said, sighing.

"You're welcome." Atherin replied as he went to the kitchen to get something to eat. Raven sighed again and leaned back into the couch. He wasn't looking forward to this at all.

Atherin came back a few minutes later with some apple pie. "Try not to worry to much about it Raven... It's not like I won't be right there..."

"Yeah... but you saw how fast he moves... by the time you realize he's there, he might already have my throat in his jaws... and I don't want a repeat..." he trailed off, rubbing at the punctures on his throat...

"...I'm not gonna joke about that, but I'll do my best to make sure that that doesn't happen." Atherin said seriously.

Raven nodded. "I'm more worried about the venom... and how he can sneak in using the shadows..."

"I don't think his venom does any more than paralyze.... If it did, I would have known when he bit me.... As for him using the shadow's....we'll have to hope that he's arrogant enough to show himself before he takes a go at you."

"I know... that's why I'm so concerned about the venom... if I'm paralyzed I can't fight back... and also, considering my encounters with him, he's really sly... he could sneak in right under us..."

"Hopefully I'll get some protection from that battle suit.... At least enough for me to either blind him or knock him unconscious.... Speaking of which...what kind of herbs do we need Ibeyla?"

"Well... we'll need the pollen of a Star Tiger lily, and the dried leaves of a Kiaria herb bush. I can make a powder, that if thrown in his eyes, will blind him for a good ten minutes, more than enough time to get away... but, if he was truly determined, he could still use his hearing and other senses, so this is a method of last resort..."

"I understand.... So....when're we gonna pull this off? There's a clearing about five minutes from here that we could use."

"Whenever you want Atherin... Ibeyla has the powder ready for escape if things go south, but we need to be careful..."

"....I say tomorrow. I'll be at full strength by then and Raven would benefit from one more day's rest....incase things turn sour..."

The rest of the day passed without much incident. It was getting late. "I'm goin' to bed... I need more sleep..." Raven said, getting up and walking up the stairs to his room, Shadow following. Atherin soon followed suit after eating something; Azel followed after him, hoping that Atherin wouldn't be so deep in sleep tonight. Ibeyla and Obscura, along with Karl, went to bed soon after.

Morning soon came. Azel was the first up, and went downstairs, awaiting the others. About half an hour later Atherin woke up, and got suited up in the battle suit that they had made, before putting his own clothes over it; he was wearing his normal clothes, though now with shoes. He went downstairs as well and went to the cemetery...he just wanted to let his family know that he'd be alright.

Raven woke up soon after. He got up and dressed into his battle suit, and this time put on all of his armor, wanting all of the protection he could get. He walked downstairs and out onto the porch. He sat down and leaned against the house, pulling out Noah's claw. He stared at it, the small fragment now comforting him for some odd reason. Shadow followed and curled up beside him.

Atherin walked back to the house. He saw Raven dressed and ready for what was to come. "...Morning...."

Raven glanced up at him. "Morning..." he said, before he focused back on the claw.

Atherin sat down on the porch next to Raven. He was...anxious as anyone in his and Raven's positions would be but....he had this nagging feeling that everything would go wrong. "...Raven.... In the back of the cemetery there's a path...that leads to the sanctuary.... ....There's...something special back there....just in case...." Atherin said cryptically.

"What is it?" Raven asked, glancing up from the burnt piece of metal he was holding.

"....It's...called Stardust.... ....Hopefully...we won't need it...."

"Stardust?" Raven said, his gaze returning to the metal claw, "I'll keep that in mind..." Atherin nodded. Now all that was left was for Ibeyla and Karl to wake so they could start their mission.

Ibeyla returned from the remains of the herb shop, holding a small bag tied with twine. Karl stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame. "Here Atherin... this is the powder..." Ibeyla said, handing him the bag, "It should blind him and distort his sense of smell for up to ten minutes. But only use it as a means of last resort..."

"Alright, I'll be sure to only use it as a last resort." Atherin said as he tucked it away and out of sight. They headed for the village entrance and too the clearing, making sure to keep an eye out for Rabe.

Raven followed Atherin, carrying the net. He was extremely nervous about what was going to happen. Ibeyla had had a bad dream, and that put him even more on edge...

They reached the clearing with out any incident. "Alright, you ready for this? You'll need to cut yourself or something to draw blood. And just so you know, I'll be right up there." Atherin said pointing to a nearby tree.

Raven sighed and gave him the net. "Ready as I'll ever be..." he said, pulling out his pocket knife. He made a small cut on his left arm, drawing blood. Atherin turned and headed for the tree to stand watch and be on guard. He held onto the net carefully so he wouldn't tangle it up or get caught in it himself. Raven sat down at the base of the tree that Atherin was in, waiting for Rabe. Blood soaked his sleeve, dripping down to the ground. If this didn't draw in Rabe, nothing would...

Rabe glared from the shadows, licking his lips. He knew it was some sort of trap, but he would play along and go for the bait laid out for him. He snuck closer, not even bothering to transform into his true form, exposing himself to Atherin above him... As soon as Atherin saw Rabe step out from the shadows he tossed the heavy net, hoping that Rabe would get caught in it.

The net fell on Rabe, knocking him to the ground. He was caught by surprise and struggled, hissing in rage, still in his human form. His eyes glowed in anger, glaring at Atherin and Raven.

Atherin didn't jump down from his perch up in the tree. That was too easy...even if they really had caught him by surprise.... He wanted to tell Raven to be careful, but he was sure Raven knew to be.

Rabe met Atherin's gaze. "Did you _really_ think a net would work?" he sneered, simply melting into the shadows beneath him...

Raven jumped to his feet. "Damn! Where is he?!" he shouted, pressing himself against the tree. He was panicking slightly, knowing the Organoid could kill him easily. Atherin jumped down cautiously. He didn't know where Rabe was, but he knew that he'd try to go after Raven first since Raven was human and really wouldn't be able to fight back. Or he could be wrong...Rabe might decide to take him out first because he couldn't fight back. But whatever the case, they were both in danger.

Rabe jumped from the shadows, pouncing on Raven. He cried out in pain, Rabe's talons sinking into his stomach. "Atherin... help!!" Atherin shouldered Rabe off of Raven. He stood between them, waiting for Rabe's next move. Rabe swung his tail, smashing it into him....

Atherin heard a few of his ribs break from that tail smash. He stood back up, trying to hide the pain that his ribs were causing him. Rabe hissed and narrowed his eyes, baring his fangs. He whipped Atherin again with his tail, tossing him away from Raven.

Atherin managed to semi block this one. Though...he was wondering _why_ his ribs had been broken the first time!? Wasn't this battle suit he was wearing _supposed_ to keep that from happening!? There must have been something that Dr. D forgot to tell Ibeyla.... Atherin circled around slowly trying to get back between Rabe and Raven, or at least keep Rabe's attention focused on him.

Rabe hissed, snapping at Atherin. He lunged and bit into his arm, but found that his fangs couldn't pierce the metal... Atherin took this opportunity to try and knock Rabe unconscious. He mustered up as much strength that he could and kicked Rabe's throat, hoping that he'd be able to cut off his air supply long enough for him to be able to do something.

Rabe gasped hoarsely and released him, staggering backwards... Atherin needed to do something that would knock Rabe out, but as he had nothing more than knowing that Rabe was curious and could be blinded for about ten minutes he had nothing to go on but what his gut was telling him. As Rabe was gasping for breath, Atherin charged at him, moving too fast for Raven to see, as he tried to dig his claws into Rabe's unprotected throat.

Rabe's eyes flashed in rage. He shot his arms forward, hooking them into the side seems. He pulled, and the suit literally fell apart... Atherin wasn't going to be stopped just because his battle suit was now useless. He still tried to get at Rabe's throat, his eyes flashing from lavender to crimson and back again as he would briefly enter his 'true' vampire self.

Rabe hissed, grabbing Atherin's shoulder in his mouth and tossing him away. He hissed at him, but leapt at Raven, sinking his fangs into his side, injecting venom. Raven cried out in pain, kicking at Rabe desperately to escape...

Atherin pulled himself off the ground and charged at Rabe again. His shoulder that Rabe had bitten was bleeding, but it was Raven that needed help, not him. He reached Rabe within seconds and pulled him off Raven once again. Rabe hissed, snapping at Atherin, tearing at his side...

Atherin gritted his teeth, not letting Rabe have the satisfaction of hearing him screaming in pain. He couldn't get a good shot at his neck again, so he improvised and aimed for his optics with a fiery fist. Rabe snarled, kicking Atherin into the tree, grabbing at his face in pain...

Atherin slammed into the tree, his head slamming into it hard, causing it to bleed due to the concussion. He stood up again, using the tree to keep balance before he went after Rabe again. Rabe whipped Atherin back into the tree, stalking over to him. He grabbed him by his shirt and slammed him into the tree, eerily like what he had done to Raven...

Atherin tried to get out of Rabe's grip but the organoid was now starting to over power him. If he had known what he had done exactly, he'd say that karma had caught up with him. Rabe transformed back into his human form, smirking darkly. "So Atherin, what's it feel like to be the prey, and not the hunter?" he hissed, before he bit into Atherin's neck, sinking his fangs into his throat...

Atherin's body froze, his eyes glazing over. If Rabe hadn't of pierced his skin on his neck, he'd have been flailing and doing everything that he could to prevent this. His mind was now doing what it could to prevent intrusion, but his mental powers were weakening with every gulp of his blood that Rabe took.

Raven was frozen in horror. He was literally seeing what had happened to him, happening to Atherin. He had to do something, but he was barely able to move due to the venom... Rabe smirked slightly, biting down harder. He could easily mess with Atherin's mind, but he didn't; he wasn't about to sink that low. He simply drank his blood instead.

Atherin was gradually getting weaker, his strength fading and senses dimming once again. He couldn't speak, not that he thought talking to Rabe would help, but his mind wouldn't allow. He truly believed that he would die if Rabe didn't stop within the next ten minutes.

Raven had to do something. He looked around and grabbed a rock. He threw it, hitting Rabe hard in his side. He released Atherin and roared, transforming back into his true form. He pounced on Raven, snapping his jaws shut on his shoulder, sinking his claws into his chest, tearing downward, leaving deep gashes, and nearly ripping him open. He tried to scream, but he could only cough blood, his lungs refusing to work.

Atherin stumbled, trying to walk, before he fell to the ground. Rabe had taken a lot of blood from him, and coupled with his bleeding head and wounded side; it'd take a long while for him to heal...if he survived this....

Rabe didn't even turn to look at Atherin. He was too busy tearing into Raven to care what Atherin did. Raven couldn't move or defend himself, paralyzed by the venom. Rabe's fangs sank into his chest, tearing back, leaving a horrific wound. Raven tried to scream again, but all he could do was cough, blood leaking from his mouth...

Atherin tried to get up off the ground. He could barely sense Raven's pain and panic, but he could smell a lot of blood. He almost was able to get to his feet, but his body betrayed him, his knees buckled and he fell to the ground again.

Rabe turned and hissed at Atherin, baring his bloody fangs. He turned back to Raven, tearing into him again. The armor he was wearing did little to protect him, as Rabe's powerful jaws ripped it off. The Vareix tore into him again, making him cry out weakly in pain. Raven tried to struggle, but Rabe pinned him down, stabbing his fangs into his side, threatening to tear him open...

Atherin forced himself to stand up after hearing Raven's cry of pain. He quickly thought out his options, the best and only thing to do to get Rabe away from Raven was to use himself as bait and stay conscious long enough to hurt Rabe some how and throw the powdered herbs in his face. He spied a good fist sized rock, and picked it up. He threw it as hard as he could at Rabe. It hit him, hard, leaving a dent in his armor and effectively getting his attention.

Rabe roared and released Raven, wheeling around to face Atherin. Raven laid on his side, unmoving, seemingly dead. "So... trying to play the hero? How ironic..." he sneered, pouncing on Atherin, sinking his talons into his stomach, roaring in his face.

Atherin grabbed a hold of Rabe's shoulders and refused to let go, even as the organoid bit his arms and tried to rip them off. His hands were becoming hot, his fire ability, burning his own hands as well as Rabe. His hands were burning worse this time because there was nowhere for the flames to go except back on their conjurer and Rabe.

Rabe roared in pain and jumped back, shaking his head and snarling. He whipped around and slammed his spined tail down on him, the spines stabbing into him. Atherin cringed, but he wasn't going to go down so easily this time. He grabbed Rabe's tail, ignoring the pain in his hands and the deep punctures that Rabe had made. With all the force he could muster, with some help for his vampire instincts, Atherin managed to fling Rabe away from him and into a tree, nearly breaking the tree in half. All he was going on was his instincts to survive, so his adrenaline was racing through his body, giving him the ability to accomplish most feats others would deem impossible.

Rabe roared and got to his feet, lunging at Atherin. He snapped his jaws shut on his shoulder, injecting venom. He hissed and slashed his chest with his razor-sharp claws, biting down harder...

Atherin cringed again as Rabe attacked him. He was starting to wear out, but the Organoid was not. But he just couldn't give up; he needed to make sure he sent Rabe packing before their next encounter. He knew by now that there was no way he was going to be able to destroy this monstrosity today, let alone try to knock him unconscious. Atherin placed his hands on Rabe's chest and blasted Rabe off him, Rabe's teeth tearing out of his shoulder, leaving deep gashes. He could see the twin melt marks on Rabe's chest; he didn't know that he had used that much energy in that blast. But he stood ready, knowing that Rabe would come after him again for that.

Rabe snarled, lunging again. He snapped his jaws shut on Atherin's side, threatening to tear him open... Atherin gritted his teeth before he tried to get Rabe off him. He needed to get rid of this monster and to Raven before he died. /...One more attack....then....I'll have to use it...../ Atherin placed his burned palms on Rabe's exposed neck and used the last of his fire energy to try to cause some major damage to him. He hoped that after this and the herb powder, Rabe would leave to go and try to heal himself.

Rabe released him and staggered backwards, roaring loudly. He edged towards Raven, not wanting to chance another injury. He turned and smashed his tail into Atherin, before he turned and went for Raven, tearing into him again... Atherin got up onto one arm, coughing blood up from that attack. His internal injuries were now very apparent and hurting really bad now. He staggered to his feet and made a jerky dash at Rabe, making sure to pull out the powdered herbs as he did so. He untied the bag at the last second before he smashed it into Rabe's face, the powder covering the organoid's face blinding him.

Rabe screamed and staggered away, clutching at his eyes. He roared and turned away, sinking into the shadows. Raven coughed, blood leaking from his mouth. He was nearly torn open, slashed and bitten, and wasn't moving. He was lying in a pool of blood, and he was barely breathing. His eyes were closed; he looked nearly dead...

Atherin dropped beside Raven. He propped him into a sitting position being careful of his wounds. He then slashed his wrist open and placed it to Raven's mouth. When he found that he wasn't swallowing, Atherin had to resort to forcing him too, like he had back in the Spyrix cave. He hoped that this helped him so then he could tend to his other wounds, it would take a lot of energy, but he'd make sure that Raven didn't die. Raven regained enough strength to swallow on his own. He opened his eyes slightly, but the color was dull and faded; he was still close to death. He could barely breathe, and the venom prevented him from moving much...

Atherin stopped helping Raven to swallow. He took a look at both his and Raven's wounds. They were both in really bad shape and he was positive that he was the only one of the two that could even remotely move. He coughed again, placing his burned hand to his mouth to wipe off the blood he could feel coming out of it. Raven coughed as well, closing his eyes again. He felt even worse than when Atherin had tried to eat him. He wanted to say something, but Rabe's claws had badly damaged his lungs, making it a struggle to even breathe. He couldn't even sit up on his own, his strength too weak...

Atherin couldn't do much more for Raven here. If he let him take anymore blood then he wouldn't have the energy to get them to the safety of the village. He pulled his wrist from Raven's mouth and instead pulled one of Raven's arms around him as he forcefully made Raven stand up. He knew that Raven wouldn't be able to walk, but he was in no condition to piggy back him back to the village.

Raven groaned, his eyes opening slightly. He was having difficulty breathing, and kept coughing up blood. His ribs were broken, and he had severe internal injuries. "A-Ath... A-Atherin...?" he tried to ask what had gone wrong, but he couldn't talk…

"....Don't.....talk.... Save.....your....energy...." Atherin answered after a moment. He knew that there was something wrong with his body. His reactions and senses were starting to slow down. Walking was becoming difficult for him and coupled with Raven's weight leaning against him made it even more so…but they were almost to the village. Just a few hundred feet more and they'd be there. The last few hundred feet felt like miles as Atherin forced himself to keep walking. He was getting dizzy and his vision was starting to fade to black, but he needed to get them into the village. They passed through the wall barrier and after a few more steps Atherin collapsed, pulling Raven down with him. His breathing was slowing again, his heart rate slowing as well. His eyes finally closed as he succumbed to cold sleep….

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_**Author's Note:**_ Oh no!! OX Both of them were extremely hurt and Atherin even fell into a cold sleep!! They hardly did any damage to Rabe either which means that they'll have to figure out something else to deal with him. What'll happen to them? And what'll they do next? You'll just have to wait and find out! Please Review!!


	15. Tentative Recovery

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do NOT own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia and Driacoul do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME**__. The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if Redai is used without my permission, however, if you decide to use Jurei please make note of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ Here we are, chapter 15! Last chapter…things didn't work out so well… Both Atherin and Raven were pretty badly hurt, and there's a chance that one of them might die. Rabe hardly received any damage either which means that they have to figure out something else.

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me. Thanks to those of you that Reviewed!!

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Ͽ Tentative Recovery Ͼ

Shadow immediately knew something was wrong. She jumped to her feet and ran outside, Obscura following. She froze upon seeing both Raven and Atherin seemingly dead at the gates of the town. She ran to them, roaring loudly, alerting Azel and everyone else.

Azel ran to where Shadow was roaring from. When he saw Atherin and Raven just lying by the entrance with their blood starting to pool around them he thought the worst. He tried to scan Atherin's mind, but all he received was white noise and blackness in his mind's eye. His head and tail drooped and he whined, after learning that Atherin wasn't going to answer him anytime soon.

Ibeyla heard the noise and saw what the cause of the commotion was. She ran over. "Karl, help!!" she cried, checking both of their vitals. Raven was just barely alive, and she could tell Atherin was in cold sleep. Both needed help and quickly...

Azel walked over to where Atherin was and looked him over, seeing the extent of his wounds. However, the one that caught his attention and made his circuits spark were the punctures wounds on his neck. Who knows what Rabe could have done to his mind! But that would have to wait until later to be looked at closer. He scooped up Atherin in his arms, not wanting to pull the boy inside him for fear of himself going into a stasis like manner and started back to the house.

Karl came and picked Raven up. Ibeyla told him to put Raven in his room, and told Azel to do the same and put Atherin in his room. Raven was just barely conscious, but was having problems breathing. Karl laid him on the bed, while Ibeyla checked him over. She then went to Atherin's room to check on him.

Azel lifted his head up when Ibeyla entered Atherin's room. He moved out of her way so she wouldn't have to reach over him to check on Atherin. He whined, not liking the fact that his partner had gone into a cold sleep and would need a lot of coaxing to wake back up, as well as some help from the Stardust...

Ibeyla stroked Atherin's muzzle. "Don't worry Azel... he'll be okay..." she said, turning back to Atherin. She wrapped his wounds in gauze, covering the puncture wounds and numerous slashes, stopping him from bleeding to death. Azel sighed, hoping that she was right. When she had finished wrapping up his wounds he tried another scan, just to make sure that he was still alive. ....One.....two.....three....repeat.... Three heartbeats every minute.... Atherin was definitely in a cold sleep, a rather bad one....

Ibeyla stroked Azel's muzzle a last time before she went to Raven. She took off his armor, and began wrapping his wounds as well. Karl stood beside the Organoids, as worried as Ibeyla. Raven was only barely able to feel his wounds being tended too, only just conscious. Azel nosed Atherin before going to see how Raven was doing. He wasn't in any better condition that Atherin was, but he still wanted to make sure that he was going to live. He wheedled his way into the room, standing behind Karl, as he could easily see over him, and waited for Ibeyla to tell them to go get something to anything about his condition.

Ibeyla finished dressing his wounds, before she turned to face the 'audience'. "He's... not good..." she said quietly, lowering her gaze sadly, "... most of his ribs are broken, his lungs are filling with blood, he has severe internal bleeding, and he's lost a lot of blood... there's a good chance he... he might not make it..."

Azel whined. He didn't want the boy to die. He didn't want any of them to. He backed out of the room, knowing that it wasn't his place to be by his side. That was Shadow's job. His was to be by Atherin's side, which he went to, even if he wouldn't wake up....

Ibeyla gave Raven some of her medicine, knowing it was the only way to keep him from dying. Raven was beginning to lose consciousness, but he tried to tell Ibeyla to get the 'Stardust'. "S-St... S-tar... dust..." he said quietly, Ibeyla blinked. She nodded, knowing what it was. "I-in... sa-sanct... ary..." he added, and she nodded again, before he lost consciousness.

Azel hummed worriedly. He could sense Raven going unconscious, which wasn't good. There was a chance that he might not wake back up either. He thumped his tail against the wooden floor in Atherin's room; it was his way of keeping himself from getting to angry or agitated. Ibeyla walked back in to Atherin's room. "Azel..." she said gently, "Where is the sanctuary?" she asked, knowing Atherin needed the night-blooming flower's nectar to wake up from the cold sleep.

Azel stood up and lead Ibeyla downstairs. As much as he would have liked to stay by Atherin's side there was nothing that he could do with him in this state. He pointed his claw down the path that leads to the cemetery. He'd go along, it beat staying here, not doing anything. Ibeyla followed Azel. She was worried for both Atherin and Raven, but she knew Atherin needed her attention at the moment.

Azel lead Ibeyla down the cemetery path. When they reached the cemetery they had to weave through the headstones to get to the path that lead to the sanctuary. They passed the gravesites where Atherin's family was buried, before getting on a more direct path to where the Stardust was located. Ibeyla stayed quiet the entire time, following Azel...

After walking about ten minutes through the cemetery they reached the unkempt path that lead to the sanctuary. It was now a straight shot to where the Heart Diamond and Stardust were located. Ibeyla continued to follow Azel. She reached up and stroked his back. "Don't worry; Atherin will pull through..." she tried to comfort him.

Azel pined. He didn't like Atherin being in a cold sleep, and he was worried that Rabe may have done something to addle his mind, even though he managed to get him and Raven back to the village. Ibeyla stayed quiet after that. Both Raven and Atherin's conditions were weighing heavy on her mind. Her eyes were downcast, saddened by the fact that she could lose one or both of them.

Azel continued to lead Ibeyla to the sanctuary. After walking for another five minutes they reached the clearing that the Heart Diamond and Stardust were located in. The Diamond was an impressive sight; it looked like it was pulsating almost, with the way that it was glowing. There were closed flowers every where, most of them were likely to Stardust, but a few could be the yellow blooms of the Lunar flowers.

Ibeyla saw the flowers and the Diamond. "Azel... they won't open for another few hours... let's head back, and keep an eye on Atherin and Raven..." Azel nodded. At least now Ibeyla knew where the flowers were located. They walked back to the cemetery, but as Ibeyla continued to the house Azel stopped at the flowered gravesites. He had failed to keep their son/brother safe.

Ibeyla went to check on Raven and Atherin. They were stable for the moment, but how long that would last, she didn't know. Azel wandered back to the house after visiting the graves. He checked in on Raven, and after seeing that he was stable for the moment went to Atherin's room. He checked over him, once again scanning his mind checking for any signs that he was recovering. Nothing....his heat was still beating three times a minute. Ibeyla gave Raven another dose of her medicine, but he didn't wake back up. His heart-rate was extremely slow, and his breathing was weak. He was close to dying, and her medicine was the only thing keeping him alive.

Evening soon fell upon Jurei. Atherin's condition hadn't changed at all and Raven was only just stable. It was now time to try and bring Atherin out of his cold sleep with the help of the Stardust flower. Ibeyla walked downstairs, and called to Azel. "Azel, I'm going to get those flowers, would you like to come?"

Azel walked out of Atherin's room and down to Ibeyla. He hummed, telling her that he'd go too. Ibeyla gently patted his snout. "C'mon... let's go..." she said, walking out and beginning down the path.

Azel followed after her. They passed the cemetery again and headed back into the sanctuary. The Heart Diamond was still glowing eerily, looking like it was a beating heart, but the flowers had yet to bloom. It wasn't quiet night yet, but they'd start to bloom within the next five minutes. Ibeyla sat down in the grass. She'd wait for the flowers to bloom.

The five minutes passed, the night sky now an inky black, and there were no twin moons out tonight. The first few flowers bloomed, but they were the yellow Lunar flowers. A few more minutes passed and more flowers bloomed, revealing the white and deep blue crested blooms of the Stardust flower. There were little glowing orbs floating just above the blooms, looking like shining little stars, hence their name, Stardust.

Ibeyla pulled out her switchblade, and went to work gathering the flowers. She cut about fifteen of the white and blue flowers, careful to not crush or damage the delicate-looking blooms. She turned to Azel. "Okay boy... I think we have enough. Let's hurry and get these to Atherin..." Azel purred happily. This was the only thing that would wake Atherin from his seemingly eternal cold sleep. He followed after Ibeyla as they headed back to the house.

Ibeyla walked into the house and into the kitchen. She rooted through the cabinets and found a small flask. She began dripping the nectar from the flowers into the tiny bottle, the sweet smelling gold-silver liquid seeming to glow in the dark. Azel watched intently as Ibeyla dripped the rare nectar into the tiny flask. He hoped that it was potent enough to actually wake him up tonight...

Ibeyla finished, looking at the small bottle of silvery-gold liquid. "Okay... let's try it..." she said, getting up and walking up the stairs and into Atherin's room. Azel followed. He was excited to get Atherin back on his feet, so then all that they had to really worry about was Raven. They entered Atherin's room, and Azel waited as patiently as he could for Ibeyla to give him the nectar.

Ibeyla sat down beside Atherin, sighing quietly. She poured a little of the shimmering liquid into Atherin's mouth, hoping and praying it worked... Azel scanned Atherin's mind and vitals for any signs of change. ....One....two....three....four.....repeat....four heartbeats every minute now. Azel whined. That wasn't enough to wake him up. Ibeyla would have to give him more...

Ibeyla nodded, understanding what Azel wanted. She poured more into his mouth, nearly half of it, hoping for some sort of response... Azel scanned his mind again. There was a slight change in Atherin's brain waves. His heartbeat was starting to pick up some. He was starting to pull out of the cold sleep...as long as they monitored him closely he would most likely come out of it on his own. However, they would keep the flask of nectar by his bedside if they needed to give him more…

Morning soon came. Ibeyla had gone downstairs, and made coffee for Karl and tea for herself. She didn't care for coffee at all. She made a special tea for Raven, using some of her healing medicine. Azel lifted his head. He could hear slight shifting coming from Atherin's bed. Finally! Atherin was starting to come around. Azel didn't want to leave him, just incase he started to panic...

Karl was sitting on the couch downstairs, drinking his coffee. Ibeyla finished her tea and went back up to Raven's room. She gave him the special herbal medicinal tea, careful that he didn't choke. When she finished, she went to check on Atherin. Azel looked at Ibeyla when she came to check on Atherin. He purred happily, letting her know that Atherin was starting to recover.

"He's doing better?" she asked, reaching over and petting his muzzle.

Azel rumbled an affirmative. And as if on queue, Atherin shifted again. His breathing and heartbeat were nearly back to normal, but he'd still need to rest to recover his senses again. Ibeyla walked over and checked Atherin's pulse. She gently shook his shoulder, trying to get some sort of response. "Atherin... can you hear me?" she asked quietly, shaking him carefully.

Atherin groaned and tried to roll over, facing away from Ibeyla, but he didn't have the strength or energy to do so. He wasn't too sure where he was at the moment, he hardly had any feeling and he felt like he had been tossed around like a rag doll.

Ibeyla sighed. "At least he isn't in cold sleep anymore..." she muttered. She turned back to Azel. "Keep a close eye on him. Come get me if he wakes up or anything..." she said as she left the room to check on Raven.

Azel nodded. He'd get her as soon as he woke up or if something went wrong, which he hoped didn't. He stood up once Ibeyla left to check on Raven again. He nudged him, seeing if he might be able to get a better response than what Ibeyla had. ...He didn't, but at least he was semi-conscious now. Ibeyla checked Raven's vitals again. Nothing had changed. He was still unconscious. She sighed; things didn't look good for him...

A few hours passed before Azel noticed that Atherin was stirring more. "Mmmm......." Atherin's eyes fluttered open slightly. His eyes slowly drifted around his room, his mind not registering where he was. Azel took notice and went to get Ibeyla.

Ibeyla heard Azel walking towards Raven's room. She stood up and walked out to him. "Is something wrong, Azel?" Azel motioned back to Atherin's room, letting her know that he was kind of awake now. Ibeyla nodded and walked into Atherin's room. She was careful to not scare or surprise him; she knew vampires tended to be jumpy when coming out of cold sleep.

Atherin faintly heard people coming toward him. One had a heavier foot fall than the other, but he couldn't tell who's they were exactly. For all he knew, he was in some sort of lab about to be experimented on. His dulled grey eyes drifted to where the people were and tried to make out their blurry profiles. One was really tall and the other a little shorter than he was. He waited to see what they would do, if anything at all.

Ibeyla took a cautious step forward. "Atherin?" she asked gently, "Are you awake?"

Nothing but gibberish reached Atherin's ears, except his name. His eyes narrowed slightly, they knew his name, but...who were they?

Ibeyla sighed. She knew he couldn't understand her. "I wish I remembered how to speak vampire..." she muttered under her breath."Atherin... are you feeling okay?"

His name was said again, but the rest of the sentence was incomprehensible. "....Kme....hze....xep...?" (Who are you?)

"You don't remember? Oh dear..." she sighed. "My name is Ibeyla..."

Atherin tried to pick apart the gibberish that reached his ears. A certain word caught his attention. "...Ibeyla....? Kmdze...hw N...?" (Ibeyla? Where am I?)

"You're in your house..." Ibeyla said softly, trying to keep him from getting worried or panicked.

Again, Atherin tried to pick apart the nonsense that reached him. He was....in a house? Who's again? "....Kme'l mepld...?" (Who's house?)

"Your house..." Ibeyla answered. She was getting more and more concerned about him.

Atherin took a moment to try and understand her. "...N'w...mewd...? ...Lnuvd kmdu...?" (I'm home? Since when?)

"For a few days..." Ibeyla answered him, "You and Raven got here about two days ago..."

More gibberish was thrown at him, though this time another name was hidden within it. This name was...familiar... "Raven? N tuek imhi uhwd..." (Raven? I know that name...)

Ibeyla nodded. "Raven is your friend, Atherin. You and he were injured fighting against Rabe..."

Another name...Rabe...for some reason this name made his blood boil. He didn't say anything, his mind trying to remember what had happened the day before, but his emotion was clearly read on his face. He wasn't happy. Not at all...

Ibeyla was concerned with him. "Atherin, are you alright?"

He tried to sit up, to better be able to speak with Ibeyla, but a sudden pain erupted from his hands. "Ahh!" He nearly yelled. He looked at his hands, but...he couldn't see what was wrong with them... He couldn't see the discoloration that his burns had caused.

Ibeyla was at his side in an instant. "What... what did you do to your hands?!" she gasped, gently seizing his left wrist. She pulled out the gauze, and began wrapping his burned hands in soft white wrappings...

"...N aeu'i...tuek..." (I don't know.) He replied. He couldn't remember that he had burned his hands while fighting against Rabe to try and damage him.

"That's okay... you don't need to worry about that now..." she said quietly, finishing wrapping his burned hands. She pulled out her fluted glass bottle of Ruby-Sapphire lily nectar. "Here Atherin... take a few sips of this, it'll help with the blood loss..." she said, offering him the flask.

Atherin tried to sit up again. If he tried to take some sips out of the flask laying down he knew he'd spill it all over himself. He managed it, his hands still hurting as he used them to help himself up, before he took the flask from Ibeyla. He thought she said only a few sips...which he did, only three small sips which gave him a much needed pick me up. He felt much better than when he had woken up, but his memory was still fuzzed and he still couldn't remember anything. "Imhutl..." (Thanks.)

Ibeyla took the flask back and capped it. "No problem..." she smiled, "Now... do you remember anything at all?"

Azel tried to sift through the fog that had settled in his mind, but...nothing came to him. He just felt that things were familiar to him, but couldn't actually remember why. "Ue. Ypi, imnujl gdds ghwnsnhz...." (No. But, things feel familiar.)

"That's okay... it'll come back soon..." Ibeyla said, "You're awake and recovering, which is all I could ask for. Now we just have to wait for Raven to wake up..."

"...Nl md...hsznjmi...?" (Is he alright?) Atherin asked, not being able to sense how much pain Raven was in, nor what his condition was in.

Ibeyla lowered her gaze and shook her head no. "No Atherin... he... he hasn't woken up since we found you... his wounds were much worse than yours..."

"......" Atherin didn't know what to say to that. He knew that he knew these people somehow and that compelled him to want to do what he could to help. But in his condition, he figured he more or less just get in the way.

Ibeyla sighed quietly, her shoulders slumping slightly. She was extremely worried for Raven, knowing there was a good chance he wouldn't survive. She could almost sense what Atherin was thinking. "There's nothing you can do, there's nothing anyone can do... we can only wait and pray..."

Atherin nodded sadly. He couldn't do anything... The gauze that Ibeyla had wrapped around his neck was starting to scratch him, making him uncomfortable. He went to scratch at it, regardless of the pain that it caused his hands, until he noticed....why there was gauze on his neck. He pulled the gauze down a little and tentatively felt the puncture wounds on his neck... He was now starting to panic...wondering how in the name of Eve he was still alive.

Ibeyla lightly grabbed his hand. "No... Please don't do that... those wounds are just starting to heal..."

Atherin flinched slightly. Even though she hadn't grabbed him hard, it still hurt his hand a lot. He was still on the verge of panicking at the fact that _he_ was bitten, not knowing if someone had addled his brain...

"It's okay... my Organoid, Obscura, scanned your mind. Rabe didn't do anything to your mind, so you don't have to worry..." Ibeyla said, letting go of his hand, trying to keep him calm.

Atherin calmed slightly. He was still shaken up by it, but if she said that his mind hadn't been messed with, then he'd believe her. His eyes fell to his hands; they were pretty much useless at the moment... He wouldn't be able to do much with them until the burns healed...

Ibeyla patted his back gently. "Don't worry, that medicine will help your hands heal quickly. It'll also replace the blood you... lost, within an hour. You'll be back on your feet in no time..."

"...Ypi...wx yeax...aedlu'i ozeapvd...wpvm yseea...." (But my body doesn't produce much blood.)

"It doesn't matter... this medicine works even in vampires... trust me, I've seen it work before..."

Atherin nodded again. He was feeling better after he had taken a few sips of what was in the flask. But he was still in pain and he still couldn't remember anything. Ibeyla turned to Azel. "Keep an eye on him..." she said, before she turned to Atherin, "I'm going to go check on Raven..." she said, getting up.

Atherin remained silent. He was trying to remember what had happened, why he and Raven were in such bad shape...she had said something about them being attacked... Azel wandered over to Atherin. He didn't want to panic him. After having listening to his and Ibeyla's conversation he knew that he didn't remember him either. He purred softly and nudged him gently, careful of his wounds. Atherin looked over to Azel, and after seeing that he was an Organoid that wanted attention, he tentatively caressed his muzzle.

Ibeyla walked into Raven's room. Shadow was on the floor beside the bed, whining and nosing Raven, licking his hair, trying to get him up. "Shadow... that won't work... just be patient..." she said softly to her. She nodded sadly and laid her head beside him. Obscura wandered to Ibeyla's side and laid her head on her shoulder, whining. Ibeyla hugged her snout gently. "I know... I'm worried too…" she whispered to her Organoid.

Atherin had lain back down on his bed. His body was in pain, and sitting up had only made his pain worse. His head was throbbing from a concussion, probably the reason why he was suffering from acute amnesia, and he was still a little shaken about having been bitten. But he knew that his pain and wounds were nothing compared to Raven's. The look on Ibeyla's face told him all he needed to know.

Ibeyla turned and walked back to check on Atherin. Obscura walked into the room and roared happily, running over and licking his face, cooing and wagging her tail happily. Atherin's hands flew up in front of his face to try and protect him, loud noises and something that was trying to get at his face caused him to start panicking, with him still being jumpy from waking from his cold sleep. His hands seared again, pain erupting from them as Obscura tried to nose around them or push them out of the way to get to his face.

Obscura cocked her head and purred, nosing his shoulder gently. She pushed her way around his hands and licked his face, wagging her long tail like a puppy. Atherin calmed a little when he found out that it was another Organoid that was just checking on him. He lowered his hands, trying to ignore the pain that they were in as the new organoid checked him over.

Obscura purred and licked his face, cooing softly. She wagged her tail, nosing him and closing her eyes. Atherin finally got the hint and tentatively caressed Obscura, trying not to cause his hand any more pain. Obscura purred and licked him, cooing happily. Ibeyla walked in and pulled Obscura away from him. "Obscura... leave him be..." she groaned, pushing her away and out the door. She sighed and turned back to him. "Sorry about that, she was just happy to see you awake..."

Atherin nodded. The Organoid had made him jumpy when she just burst into his room, but he knew now that she wasn't going to hurt him. He was starting to get thirsty, but he didn't want to be a burden when someone else needed more medical attention than he did. He'd try to get it himself...well...at least his stubbornness was still there...if that was a good thing or not only time would tell.

Ibeyla looked over at Atherin. "Do you need anything?"

"....Chidz.... N'w imnzlix..." (Water. I'm thirsty.) Ibeyla nodded and walked downstairs. She poured him a glass of water and walked back upstairs into his room. She handed it to him. "There you go..."

"Imhutl..."(Thanks.) He said as he gingerly held it in his hands. He needed to use both his hands, as it hurt too much to hold it properly in just one hand.

Ibeyla nodded and turned to Azel. He still seemed a little sad to her. She smiled and patted his muzzle. Azel purred sadly. He was glad that Atherin was awake, but he was sad that he didn't remember anyone. "Don't worry, he'll remember soon... maybe before Raven wakes up..." she reassured him, stroking his muzzle again.

Azel hummed, hoping that she was right. Atherin had finished his glass of water and placed it on his bedside table. He still couldn't really understand what Ibeyla was saying, but he had made good guesses so far. Right now they seemed to be talking about his memory...

Ibeyla turned around. "Are you feeling better, Atherin?"

"...H sniisd... Ypi N'w linss nu ohnu..." (A little. But I'm still in pain.)

"Well... you should feel better after a little bit..." she said, "You're healing well; I wouldn't be surprised if you were on your feet by tomorrow..."

Atherin nodded again. From what he could make out she was hopeful that he would be up and walking soon. Though...not today... He didn't think his internal injuries would be able to take it... Ibeyla turned as she heard Karl in the doorway. "He's awake?" he said, looking over at Atherin. She nodded. "Yeah... he's recovering well... any change with Raven?" she asked. Karl shook his head no. "No... Still unconscious..."

Atherin blinked. There was another person here as well? He tapped Ibeyla's shoulder lightly. "...Kme'l imhi...?" (Who's that?)

"That's Major Karl Schubaltz, Atherin..." Ibeyla said. Karl blinked and looked at her. 'He has amnesia' she mouthed.

"...Schubaltz…?" Another name that sounded familiar to him. He looked to be in an okay condition, certainly much better than he was in. Perhaps if he got 'hungry' later, Schubaltz might be willing to let him feed a little...

Ibeyla nodded. "Yes, Karl... you'll remember him soon..." she said, before she turned to Karl."Nothing new with Raven?" she asked quietly. He shook his head 'no'. Ibeyla sighed, things weren't looking good...

Atherin staid quiet, trying to pick up on what they were talking about, though he knew this time it was about Raven. He'd just wait as nervously and patiently as everyone else for information about his condition. Karl left the room and Ibeyla sighed. She leaned against the wall and lowered her gaze. Things weren't looking good at all at the moment...

Atherin could just pick up on negative energy that Ibeyla was giving off. It made him even more depressed than he already was. He wished that there was something that he'd be able to do to help...but he knew Ibeyla wouldn't let him past his doorway to try anything....

Ibeyla looked over at Atherin, and grew worried upon seeing his expression. "Is something wrong?"

"....N....N aeu'i....tuek.... N...gdds....eaa...." (I...I don't know. I feel...odd...)

Ibeyla cocked her head. "Odd how? Like... ill? Hurt?"

Atherin loosely griped his shirt near his heart. Was he...starting to panic...? Was it something else the he didn't quite understand or remember yet...? Or...was he hurt somewhere that not even Ibeyla could heal...? He wasn't sure, but he knew that he didn't like this feeling. He remained silent, completely forgetting to answer Ibeyla's question.

Ibeyla saw him grasping at his chest. "Atherin... what's wrong?"

Atherin just shook his head. He didn't know what was wrong with him. Ibeyla walked over to him and gently put her hand on his forehead, making sure he wasn't running a fever. "If something's bothering you, you can just tell me, Atherin..."

But that was the thing... He didn't know what was bothering him. It could be anything from his body trying to tell him that he was hurt more so than they all thought to whether or not Raven would pull though... "...N vhu'i oshvd ni..." (I can't place it...)

Ibeyla sighed. "It's okay..." she said, "I'm sure you're just a little dizzy from the blood loss..."

"...Odzmhol..." (Perhaps.) Maybe this was why he was feeling so strange? Maybe he was 'hungry' but his mind couldn't quite place it? It was a possibility.... Ibeyla patted him on the back. "I'm sure you're just a little dizzy... that medicine will heal your internal wounds in a few hours..." Atherin sighed. He wished that they'd heal now, but he knew that that wasn't possible. He also had a strong, innate feeling that he's still be in pain for a while...

A few hours had past. Karl was downstairs, getting another cup of coffee. Ibeyla was moving between Atherin and Raven's rooms, drinking a cup of tea she had made. Shortly after Ibeyla had left his room to go check on Raven again, Atherin nearly blacked out from a sudden and very painful headache. His hands held his head as some of his memories came flooding back to him. Azel nosed him and whined before he went to go get Ibeyla.

Ibeyla followed Azel and rushed to Atherin. "Are you alright?!" she asked, concerned.

"...Wx...mdha...ni mpzil..." (My head...it hurts...) Atherin replied. His mind trying to sort out the flood of memories that he was now receiving.

Ibeyla looked at him in concern. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"...Ue...wx...wdwezndl...vewnuj...yhvt..." (No...my memories...coming back...)

"That's good... what do you remember?"

"...Ueimnuj...xdi...ni'l hss...h yspz..." (Nothing yet...it's all a blur....)

"It's okay... it'll clear in a moment..."

That moment couldn't come soon enough for Atherin. His head felt like it was about split open from the pain. However...after another few minutes the pain subsided and he was now able to start piecing together his memories. Ibeyla stayed with him, making sure he was okay...

After a few moments of silence did something happen. Atherin's eyes widened as he partly remembered what had happened...at least where he and Raven had just made it back inside the village. "W-Wh...ere? Is....h-he...?"

"He's in the other room..."

Atherin made an attempt to get out of bed, regardless of the fact his body was screaming in pain for such sudden moment. He managed to swing his legs over the side of his bed to try and stand up. Ibeyla didn't like him trying to move. "Atherin... you shouldn't be moving..."

"...B-But! I-It's...m-my f-f-fault.... I-If I h-had...on-nly g-got-ten to h-him s-sooner...h-he wo-wouldn't be in th-this....c-condi-ition...."

"Atherin... It wasn't your fault… Now just stay still... or you'll hurt yourself more..."

But Atherin couldn't sit still. Even though she told him that what had happened wasn't his fault, he still believed that it was. He was also worried about Raven's condition...all that he could remember at the moment was how badly hurt Raven was when he brought him back to the village. He tried again to stand and this time didn't fall back down onto his bed.

Ibeyla sighed. "If you want so badly to see him, I guess a ten foot walk won't hurt you too badly..." she said, knowing Atherin wasn't going to listen to her. Atherin managed the walk the ten feet with help from Azel every now and then. Ibeyla was by his side, making sure that he didn't hurt himself anymore. He entered Raven's room and what little color he had in his face drained when he saw him. He leaned against the wall to keep himself standing up. "...Is...Is h-he...?"

"He's alive... but unconscious..." Ibeyla said quietly, "He lost consciousness a few moments after we got him inside, and hasn't woken since..."

"...W-Will he...m-make it...?"

Ibeyla lowered her gaze. "We... don't know..."

"......." Atherin felt horrible. It was his fault that his friend was in this state. If he had only gotten to him soon and had dealt with Rabe faster, he might not be in this condition...

Ibeyla put her hand on his shoulder. "It wasn't your fault, Atherin..."

"...B-But....it is.... I...I c-couldn't g-get to...h-him...f-fast e-enough to k-keep....R-Rabe...f-from d-doing t-this...."

"Atherin... you did all you could. The fact that you got Rabe off of him is a miracle in its own right..."

"...B-But...s-still...." Atherin tried to argue. He was tired again, and he briefly closed his eyes.

Ibeyla saw Atherin close his eyes. "You better lay down again... you need to recover..."

Atherin nodded weakly. He pushed himself off the wall and stumbled his way back to his room. Azel kept him from doing too much damage to himself. Atherin made it back to his bed and sat down on, his mind racing about all of the 'what ifs' that could have happened. Ibeyla stayed in the doorway of Raven's room, sighing sadly. She herself wasn't even sure if he would pull through. Karl walked upstairs, and after checking on Raven, went to check on Atherin. "Hey Atherin...are you doing alright?"

Atherin looked up when he heard Karl speak to him. "...I've....b-been....b-bet-ter..."

"We've all been better, so don't worry..." Karl said, "Do you remember anything now?"

"...Th-There's...a b-blank....s-spot....wh-where I pr-presume....w-was the...m-majority....of the f-fight.... B-But....o-other....t-than t-that...I r-remember m-most everyt-thing...else..."

"That's good..." Karl said, "I'm sure you'll remember everything else soon..."

Atherin nodded. He hoped that his memory returned as well. He knew that his fight with Rabe could provide some insightful news... Before Karl could turn and go back downstairs Atherin spoke to him. "....I'm.....'hungry'....." He wasn't sure why he all of a sudden needed blood, but he guessed that it was because he had lost a lot of blood and the Diamond just couldn't sustain him in his state.

Karl blinked. His statement had caught him by complete surprise. "Hungry as in... blood?" he asked.

Atherin nodded. He didn't know how Karl would react to this. He just hoped that it wouldn't be violent... Karl sighed. He wasn't really comfortable with the idea, but he knew Atherin needed it. He sat down on the bed next to him and pulled the glove off his left hand. "Okay... here..." he said, holding out his left hand for him.

Atherin wasn't too comfortable about drinking blood from Karl either, but he didn't want to go back into cold sleep. He held onto Karl's wrist with his gauzed covered hands and bit into it, hardly causing any pain to Karl. Karl was surprised. It didn't hurt him much at all. He still didn't look, not really wanting to.

Atherin finished after a few minutes. He didn't want to take so much that Karl got dizzy, but he was also sure that now the Diamond would help sustain him until he fully recovered. He then went to wrap the wound up, but his burned hands made it a little difficult. "...Th-Thanks....and s-sorry.... I know it...c-can't be f-fun to be bitten by s-someone l-like m-me...."

Karl put his glove back on. "It's alright Atherin... to tell you the truth; it didn't hurt at all..."

"...I'm s-still s-sorry.... It....m-must h-have been....un-comfort-table....f-for you...."

"Don't worry Atherin, it wasn't bad..." Karl said, not wanting him to feel bad.

Atherin could tell that Karl was trying to make him feel better. "...Y-You...don't n-need to s-soften y-your w-words w-with m-me..."

"Who said I was?" Karl said, "It wasn't bad at all, you don't need to feel bad about it..."

"...Y-You're...t-taking it b-better t-than R-Raven d-did.... T-Though....I d-didn't s-scare the h-hell o-outta y-ya..." Atherin said, a small smile forming on his face as he remembered what he had done to him.

Karl laughed. "Yeah... that probably has something to do with it..." he said, smirking, "Though I have a feeling Raven deserved to get the hell scared out of him..."

"....I-It w-was w-when he f-first f-found out t-that I w-was a v-vampire... H-He s-said s-some....p-provoking w-words a-and I t-took the o-opportunity to s-scare h-him..."

Karl laughed again. "Like I said, he deserved it... Helkat, he even _asked_ for it..."

"...T-Twice...." Atherin laughed, and then coughed and wiped some blood that dripped from his mouth. Whether it was Karl's or his, he didn't know.

Karl was concerned with the blood he was coughing up. "Are you alright?"

"...S-Some in-ternal...in-juries.... I-Ibeyla...s-said t-they'd h-heal s-soon..."

Karl nodded. "That medicine of hers will heal those in no time flat..."

"I...h-hope so.... It h-hurts....a lot..... And I c-can't even r-remember w-why.... T-Though I k-know it h-has to do w-with R-Rabe...."

Karl nodded. "You had a lot of cuts and slashes, Ibeyla said, so I'm sure you've probably got a broken rib or two..."

"...O-Or m-more..." Atherin said as one of his broken ribs rubbed against a muscle painfully.

Karl sighed. "Or more... we couldn't tell exactly how many were broken..."

"...J-Joy....but...my w-wounds...a-are but s-scratches...c-compared t-to R-Raven's...."

Karl nodded. "His... his are real bad. All but...I believe two of his ribs were broken, and both his lungs were severely damaged. Rabe had drained over half his blood, so he's not healing well..."

"....O-Only t-time w-will t-tell, b-but...I d-don't th-think he'll g-go d-down s-so easily.... He'll m-make it...b-but it'll t-take t-time for the b-both of us to r-recover..."

Karl sighed. "I'm... not sure... he's never been this injured before; even Shadow and Ibeyla aren't sure if he'll make it..."

Atherin sighed. Yeah, things looked bad for Raven, but he just couldn't shake the feeling that he'd make a full recovery...eventually... His hands and ribs started hurting again, but he wasn't sure if it was the medicine working or if he was just hurting…

Ibeyla started back up the stairs, stirring her tea. She subconsciously checked in on Raven, expecting no change. But instead, she saw his narrowed eyes looking back at her. She nearly dropped her cup. "Karl!" She cried, running into the room.

Karl was up immediately and ran to Raven's room, thinking that something bad had happened to his condition. Atherin tried to get up as well, but the first attempt was a failure and he fell onto the hardwood floor on his knees, the jolt re-breaking a still mending rib. He got up again with Azel helping him this time and made his way to Raven's room, hoping that the bastard was starting to regain himself and not throwing them for another scare.

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_**Author's Note:**_ At least we know that they're still alive!! Poor Atherin and Raven… They're both still not out of the woods yet, but at least they're improving…if ever so slightly… It looks like Raven's starting to show signs of improvement as well… Will he recover though? You'll just had to wait for the next chapter to find out!! Please Review!!


	16. Where to Next?

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do NOT own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia and Driacoul do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME**__. The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if Redai is used without my permission, but if you decide to you Jurei please make note of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ Wow…chapter 16 already! Last chapter we saw that Atherin is recovering, but it's still a mystery with Raven… Will Raven survive? And if so, then what will be their next course of action?

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me. Thanks to those of you that Reviewed!!

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Ͽ Where to Next? Ͼ

Ibeyla and Karl were standing beside the bed, blocking Atherin's view. Raven was awake, but only just. His breathing was extremely labored, and he kept coughing weakly, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. Atherin managed to squeeze his way beside them at Raven's bedside. He was glad that Raven was starting to wake, it meant that he was recovering...if ever so slightly... But that relief was shot to hell when he really saw and remembered Raven's condition. He wanted to _do_ something, but he knew that he couldn't. He hated feeling helpless and useless...

Raven looked over at Atherin. He tried to talk, but he couldn't. He wanted to talk, but he didn't have the strength. His eyes were barely open, but he was conscious at least. As if Atherin could tell what Raven was thinking, he answered him. "...I...m-maybe…u-up, b-but...I'm s-still w-worri-ired 'b-bout y-your h-health.... I-I'd g-gladly s-switch...p-places w-with y-you..."

Raven rolled his eyes and smirked slightly. Even though he was basically on death's door, he was still as sarcastic as ever.

"...H-Haha... L-Laugh w-while y-you c-can...but as s-soon as y-you r-recover y-you'll h-have m-me t-to d-deal with...."

Raven blinked and narrowed his eyes, as if to ask 'what did I do?'

"...Y-You w-were s-scarin' the h-hell o-outta us.... T-Them...l-longer t-than m-me... I j-just r-recovered m-my m-memory n-not to l-long a-ago..."

"I-it... n-ot.... m-my f-fault..." Raven choked out, coughing from the effort of talking.

"...J-Just....k-keep y-your mouth s-shut... D-Don't n-eed y-you to g-go c-coma-tose 'gain...."

Raven narrowed his eyes. He wasn't going to pass out again. "I'll b-be... f-ine..."

"...S-So you s-say...b-but y-your c-cond-ition s-says o-otherw-wise..."

"S-shut up... Dra-cula..." Raven said, smirking.

Atherin was about to retort back, but his legs buckled, not wanting to stand any longer. Luckily, Karl was beside him and caught him before he could fall and hurt himself even more. Karl helped him stand on his feet. "Okay... you're going back to bed..."

Atherin sighed. He knew that he was standing and out of bed longer than he should have been, but the fact that Raven was awake and arguing with him made him positive that he would make a full recovery. He allowed Karl to help him back to his room, where he sat back down on his bed.

Karl made sure he was alright before he started to leave. "Get some rest... the less you move, the quicker you'll heal, and the quicker you and Raven can go back to arguing..."

"....Y-Yeah, w-well h-he s-started it..." Atherin said as he laid down to nap. He didn't realize how tired he was exactly until he had sat back down on his bed.

Karl rolled his eyes. "You two are like three-year-olds..." he sighed.

"...A-And p-proud of it..." Atherin said as he settled back into his bed.

Karl sighed and walked out of the room. These two... they were just like kids... Atherin soon fell asleep. It was a light sleep and any loud noise would wake him in an instant. He was glad to see Raven recovering, it made resting a little easier on the mind. Raven passed out again. He wasn't able to breathe well; his lungs damaged from Rabe's claws.

A few hours had passed since Atherin and Raven had fallen back asleep. Atherin was starting to stir again. His eyes opened just a slit and he had to remember, once again, where he was. When he remembered that he had taken a nap, he slowly sat up, trying to be mindful of his throbbing wounds.

Ibeyla was back in Raven's room, making sure he was alright. He had regained consciousness again, but was still extremely weak. Atherin debated with himself about whether or not to go check and see if Raven was up again. After the quick debate was settled, both sides coming to an agreement, he slowly and carefully got out of bed. He used the wall as his guide, him having snuck out while Azel was sleeping, and headed to Raven's room where he saw Ibeyla tending to him again.

Ibeyla looked up. "Hey Atherin..." she said, smiling. Raven looked over. "D-Dracula..."

"...H-Hey..." He replied tiredly. He was still trying to wake up, and was considering if perhaps getting out of bed was a bad idea. His still broken ribs were rubbing against his muscles painfully again with each step or breath he took.

Ibeyla noticed. "Do you need some more medicine, Atherin?"

Atherin shook his head 'no'. He'd recover just fine so long as he took it easy. And besides in his eyes, Raven needed it more so than he did at the moment. Raven groaned loudly, pushing himself into a sitting position. "T-take some... it'll m-make you... f-eel be-better..."

"...F-Fine..." Atherin answered not really wanting to take it; but if it kept Raven from over doing it and making his wounds even worse than he'd take some. Though...what was starting to worry him about his own injuries was the fact that he still couldn't remember the fight. He remembered throwing the net and ramming Rabe off Raven he presumed the first time and then walking into the village. Everything else was a big blank.

Ibeyla handed him the small flask. "Just a few sips..." she said, not wanting him to overdo it. Raven watched, wanting to see Atherin gag from the sickeningly sweet medicine. Atherin took a few sips from the flask. Ibeyla almost had to stop him from taking any more, but he stopped after three sips. He handed the flask back to her and wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand. The liquid could be sweeter in his opinion.

Raven stared. "Y-you r-really... aren't hu-man..." he said, blinking.

"...W-When d-did y-you f-figure that out...?" Atherin teased. He knew that Raven hated taking this medicine, but he just couldn't figure out why... It didn't taste awful like most medicines did...

Raven rolled his eyes. "I h-had m-my sus-picions... w-when you t-tried... to 'eat' m-me..." he said, smirking.

"...Gl-Glad I co-could...h-hide it f-from you f-or....that l-long..." Atherin joked. He was feeling a little better, his ribs not rubbing against his muscles anymore, now that he had sat down on a spare chair in the room. Though...his hands still hurt like hell from the burns. They must have been really bad burns for them to still be hurting him this badly.

"Well... I-I started t-to question w-when you f-first bit me a-and 'fed' off m-me..." he shot back, his smirk broadening slightly.

"...So...t-taking t-this...n-not s-sweet enough....m-medicine...gave me...a-away?" Atherin smirked, looking forward to Raven's response when he said that the medicine could be sweeter.

"N-not sweet e-enough?!" Raven said, "... Rabe m-must have hit y-you on the h-ead a few... t-times, Dr-acula..."

"B-But I l-like s-sweet s-stuff... A-And t-that me-medicine i-is no-thin' c-compared to v-vampire me-dicine... And R-Rabe d-did hit me....on th-he h-ead... I s-still c-can't r-remember th-the f-fight th-that.... we h-had..."

Raven blinked. "N-not a... thing?" he stated, "... lucky... I'll n-never get that f-fight outta my m-mind for... a l-long time..."

"...Y-You're l-lucky th-that I r-regained...my m-memories.... J-Just a f-ew....ho-hours ago.... I...d-didn't re-remember...any-one...."

"Well... w-while you w-were getting all t-the attention, I-I was out c-cold, re-reliving the f-fight..."

"W-Well, s-ssoorryy... It's n-not l-liked I asked f-for it.... A-And I w-wish I c-could r-remember the f-fight...."

Raven scoffed. "T-rust me... you d-do NOT want t-to rem-ember the f-fight..."

"...I...c-can't f-fix m-my mis-stakes...if I...d-don't know...w-what I d-did w-wrong..." Atherin answered his eyes downcast.

"Y-you didn't do a-anything w-wrong, D-Dracula... he... he w-was just too s-strong..."

"...E-Even if y-you're ju-just s-sayin' that....I w-would s-still like....t-to be-better m-myself.... I-I can...s-start tr-training a-again as soon...as I heal..."

"T-training?" Raven blinked, "N-no... I k-know where... w-we can find a w-weakness to use a-against him..." he said, smirking.

Atherin looked at him in confusion. If he said a library he would personally strangle him. "...E-Even if we f-find a w-weakness...w-we s-still have to...o-out last h-him and b-be s-stronger than....w-we were....y-yester-day..."

Raven sighed. "M-my b-brother... if t-there is a we-weakness, he'll f-find it..."

"...I t-thought....that y-you d-didn't h-have a b-brother....?"

Raven nodded. "A t-twin, ac-tually..."

"...T-This ju-st k-keeps...g-gettin' b-better and...b-better..."

Raven smirked. "N-no... he's m-my exact op-opposite..."

"...P-Pity..." Atherin mock pouted.

Raven rolled his eyes. "I'm n-not sure... how h-happy he'll be t-to see me... we grew up in d-different h-ouses... we n-never hated e-each other, w-we just had a h-hard time g-getting along... he's r-really quiet, and I h-haven't seen him s-since t-that day... He... t-thinks I'm d-dead... with m-my fam-ily..."

"...H-He's y-your f-family th-though.... I d-don't see....why h-he w-wouldn't...be h-happy to s-see y-you... E-Even if y-you d-didn't...get on w-well...." Atherin said confused.

"We... g-got along the little t-time we had... together... we w-ere sep-erated at an e-early age... D-Donnie was sent to l-live, with my f-father's brother, D-Daniel, inside Horai..."

"...Horai...?" Atherin hadn't ever heard that name before... He was sure that only living in the human world for five years was the reason.

"An old-world Z-Zoid..." Raven clarified, "Daniel Chen w-was a brilliant re-researcher... he h-had a large l-library on Horai. Donnie inherited Horai, and m-most likely l-left the library un-touched... if th-there is a p-piece of knowledge ab-about V-Vareix, its in t-there..."

"...So....h-how d-do we g-get to....Horai....?" /...I'm gonna kill him.... He yelled at _me_ for saying basically the same thing! That'd we'd find a weakness in a book in a library somewhere! /

"If I-I remember c-correctly... Horai is n-near A-Alca canyon..."

"...W-Which is...w-where?"

"N-Near Mule... I t-think..."

That damn town again....which meant that they would most likely be going back to the Republic....oh joy.... Raven could basically see his train of thought. Raven thought for a moment. "Scratch t-that... its n-not near M-Mule. It's in th-e E-Empire…"

Atherin nodded, glad that they didn't have to go back to the Republic, though...there was another question nagging at him. "....Y-Your b-brother....w-wouldn't h-happen to be ab-le to....f-figure out w-what I am....w-would he...? A-And if s-so....w-wouldn't d-do anything...r-right...? Y-You s-said th-that he's the exact opposite....o-of y-you..."

Raven thought for a moment. "H-he'd pr-obably figure it o-out..." he pointed to the puncture wounds on his neck, "B-but he w-won't do an-anything... he's a v-very open-minded p-person, the k-kind that trusts before m-mistrusting..."

"...T-The exact...opposite...of y-you for s-sure..." Atherin said smirking.

Raven threw his pillow at him. "S-shut up... Dr-acula..."

"...I'm g-gonna ch-chance the s-stairs....do you...w-want an-ything?" Atherin asked after seeing that neither Ibeyla nor Karl was upstairs with them.

"S-some water, p-please..." Raven asked.

Atherin nodded and got up. He left the room and slowly, ever so slowly, walked downstairs. He almost stumbled once, but he caught himself, using the wall as a support, before he finally made it downstairs. He was amazed that he had made it down with out getting yelled at by Ibeyla and so went to get some water for Raven and some sweet juice for himself from the kitchen. He used the side door so he wouldn't attract too much attention.

Shadow lifted her head from the floor, nosing Raven. She had woken up from her sleep. Ibeyla saw Atherin, but didn't do anything. She knew he could take care of himself. Atherin pulled out a blue sphere filled with water for Raven and a pink sphere filled with juice so sweet you could feel your teeth rotting for him; luckily he had protection against that. He made his way slowly back upstairs, nearly falling up the stairs on the way. He entered Raven's room and handed him his water.

Raven nodded and took the sphere from him. "T-thanks... Dr-acula..."

"...N-No p-problem... W-Wanna sip...?" Atherin asked holding out his juice.

Raven stared at him. "No... I w-won't take an-ything from y-you t-that's not w-water..."

"...B-But it's j-just...j-juice..." Atherin mock pouted again as he took a sip from his sphere.

"Y-yeah... I d-don't trust you w-with j-juice..." he said as took another sip of water.

"...It...n-not like it's...p-poisoned..."

"No... I'm m-more worried... about g-getting sick from the s-sweetness..."

"....K-Killjoy..." Atherin muttered as he took another drink of his juice.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Bite me..."

"...N-Name the p-place and t-time and I g-gladly w-will." Atherin shot back.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Maybe w-when I'm better... b-but not now..."

"...W-Which is w-why I d-didn't...when, y-you t-told me too..."

"G-good... I d-don't feel l-ike g-getting... e-eaten a-gain..."

"...I w-wouldn't s-stoop that low... Even...if y-you _are_ an e-easy meal...." Atherin smirked.

Raven rolled his eyes. "E-easy?"

"...Y-You can h-hardly m-move... I t-think that q-qualifies as an 'e-easy m-meal'..."

"W-well... you c-can't move much b-better... and I-I won't j-just _let_ you e-eat me, like l-last time..."

Atherin chuckled and then coughed the movement of laughing shaking his damaged ribs. "...I'd l-ike to s-see you t-try to s-stop me...n-next ti-ime..." Atherin joked.

Raven smirked. "I w-won't hold b-back next t-ime..."

"N-Neither w-will I..." Atherin mocked glared. Playing with his 'food' was so much fun.

Raven narrowed his eyes. "Well... d-don't think I-I'll go d-own easy..."

"...I h-hope not... I w-want a c-challenge this t-time..." Atherin smirked, before he leaned back in his chair to avoid Raven's weak attempt to punch him.

Raven glared at him the best he could in his state. "Y-yeah... well I-I was h-olding back t-that time..."

"..O-Of course...y-you we-ere...." Atherin smiled as he took another sip from his juice sphere.

Raven reached to throw his pillow at him, until he remembered he had already done that. "Damn..." he muttered.

"...Y-You're n-not ge-ettin' it b-back 'til I l-leave..." Atherin said when he saw what Raven was looking for. Raven narrowed his eyes. He looked around, and grabbed the empty water bottle, throwing it at him without much force.

Atherin caught the empty water bottle as best as he could with his injured hands. He dropped the bottle immediately as it stung his hands from the sudden movements of curling his fingers to grasp something. "...Damnit...t-they s-still hurt...l-like hell..."

"S-sorry..." Raven said. He didn't know his hands had been injured.

"D-Don't w-worry about...it... Y-You didn't k-know..."

Raven nodded. After he saw Rabe bite Atherin's neck, he hadn't really been aware enough to see what had happened to him. Atherin could see that Raven's eyes were lingering on the puncture wounds that Rabe had inflicted upon him. "...I'm a-alright... H-He only...d-drained b-blood from...me...n-nothing m-ore..."

"Good... I-I was w-worried about t-that..." he muttered, before meeting Atherin's gaze, smirking, "L-looks like k-karma caught u-up to y-ou..."

"That w-was so f-funny I f-forgot to l-laugh..." Atherin said as he threw Raven's pillow back at him, hitting him square in the face. Raven smirked, unable to laugh without hurting his damaged lungs. The pillow didn't faze him at all.

"...W-Well, at l-least y-you're f-feeling be-better enough to argue with me... B-But...s-shouldn't you t-tell I-Ibeyla and K-Karl about Horai...? And...D-Donnie...?"

"I-Ibeyla knows a-about Donnie... she k-knows how to g-get t-there..."

Atherin nodded. That was good to know. "Well...I'm...g-goin' b-back to bed.... My...in-ternal injuries a-are s-starting to g-get to me...." Atherin said as he got from the chair in Raven's room. "Me t-too..." Raven yawned, falling asleep within minutes.

Three days had passed and things were starting to look up. Well...as up as it could get considering the resent turn of events. Both Atherin and Raven were now up and walking, but were taking it easy...least they incur Ibeyla's wrath for disobeying her......again...... Atherin was sitting at the kitchen table, his arms in front of him, with a cool wash cloth on them. His burns were the last things to heal, due to them being caused by a magic infused fire.

Raven was on the couch again. Ibeyla's medicine had healed his ribs, but his internal injuries would take time to heal. He was lying down, his arms crossed, Shadow lying on the ground beside him. He was still having problems breathing; Rabe's claws had torn one of his lungs, and it was healing slowly.

"...Grrr.... That's it. I'm sticking them in the freezer..." Atherin said as he got up and walked into the kitchen. He knew that freezing cold wouldn't solve his problem, but they stung really badly today for some reason. He had already tried a number of home remedies and nothing worked for too long.

Ibeyla looked over at Atherin. "Here Atherin, let me see...." Atherin shut the freezer door and walked over to Ibeyla. He sat back down and waited for her to try and ease the searing sensation and wrap his hands back up, as he couldn't do it himself...

Ibeyla undid her necklace and laid it gently in his hands. The red heart charm glowed for a second before fading; the pain gone. "There... that should help for the rest of the day..." she said, putting her necklace back on and rewrapping his hands...

"...Thanks.... So...when are we going to Horai?" Atherin asked Raven, as Ibeyla wrapped his hands back up. He still couldn't remember the fight, even though he thought it'd come back to him by now.

"W-whenever you're r-eady..." Raven answered without opening his eyes.

"...I'm not the one that has a busted lung. It's up to you as to when you want to leave, as your major injuries just healed up yesterday..." Atherin said as he got his predictable answer from Raven.

Raven opened an eye and looked at him. "I'll be f-fine, Dracula..." he said, rolling his eyes. ".....You're not being helpful..." Atherin mock pouted. He hated having to make most all of the decisions... Raven sighed. "The s-sooner we get t-there, the sooner w-we can kill that d-damned Rabe..."

"...Then...let's leave within the hour.... I don't know how much damage I did to Rabe, if any at all so...I don't know how fast he can heal.... And besides....it's not like we have a lot of belongings here to pack..."

Raven smirked. "You d-did some damage, D-Dracula... I'd be s-surprised, if he c-came after y-you again..."

"...If I did damage then I'm first on his list of 'people who must die'...followed by you." Atherin smirked.

"Why me? What d-did I do?" Raven said, smirking.

"You lived." Was Atherin's short, blunt answer.

"Yeah... and s-so did you..." Raven shot back.

"...But I'm sure that he thought you either dead or close to it and not going to make it. I wasn't as damaged as you were...I think he knows that I'm still alive...but you....? What a nasty surprise that'll be for him." Atherin said smiling; knowing he was pushing Raven's buttons again...and he would always fall for it.

Raven glared. "Yeah? Well... y-you're lucky I decided to s-save your s-sorry ass..."

"What's the score....? 3-1? I think you have some catching up to do."

"No..." Raven said, smirking, "... 3-2! I s-saved you from Rabe!"

"...Then I must have been during the fight, 'cause I don't remember..." Atherin mused. "Either way you're still down..." He smiled.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Whatever..." he huffed, crossing his arms.

"...Aww...don't be such a sore loser..." Atherin said as he went into the kitchen, avoiding the half frozen water bottle thrown at him.

Raven sighed. "Hey D-Dracula, can you g-get me another water?"

"Why? So you can throw it at me?"

"Damn..." Raven muttered too quietly for him to hear, "Well... I s-sorta threw my water b-bottle at you..."

"Your fault, not mine." Atherin said from the kitchen as Raven heard him filling up a glass of water instead. Raven knew better than to throw something that was made of glass at him. Atherin returned with the glass of water and set it down next to Raven. "When you learn to play nice, I'll give you back your water bottle." Atherin said as he sat down in one of the living room chairs.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Thanks 'mom'..."

"Your welcome 'sweetie'." Atherin said with a smirk.

Raven rolled his eyes and glared at him, taking a sip of water. He had half a mind to throw the glass at him, but he wasn't about to stoop that low. Atherin's smirk widened a little as he could basically tell what Raven was thinking.

Raven glared at him, as he took another sip. He was calling him all sorts of unmentionable names in his mind. Atherin did the 'shame on you' finger gesture as if he could hear what Raven was calling him. He was still smirking, knowing that Raven couldn't curse him to kingdom come because Ibeyla was at the kitchen table.

Raven narrowed his eyes. "You're l-lucky Ibeyla is in the o-other room..." "I know." Atherin said happily. Raven glared a last time, before he went back to drinking his water.

Atherin got up again, deciding to pack away from of the spheres for their journey. He went upstairs to grab an extra bag for them, and then went back to the fridge, pulling out about a dozen water spheres and about a dozen juice spheres. He then went to packing some extra food, just in case. By the time he was done double checking his extra supplies it was about time to leave Jurei.

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_**Author's Note:**_ ^^ Looks like both of them will be just fine. However, they now have a new destination to go to, Horai. That also means that Atherin will meet Raven's twin… I can only imagine what might happen ^^; Please Review!!


	17. Horai

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do NOT own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia and Driacoul do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME**__. The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if Redai is used without my permission, but if you use Jurei please make note of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ Chapter 17 here we come! Last chapter we saw that both Atherin and Raven are recovering. They also decide on where to go next and plan on heading to Horai. For those of you that don't know what Horai is, it's Zoid from the manga. It's an old world Zoid that's a giant floating castle. Now, let's get going to Horai!!

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me. Thanks to those of you that Reviewed!!

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Ͽ Horai Ͼ

Ibeyla packed her and Raven's things. Karl hadn't brought anything, and was waiting outside. Atherin finished packing his things, and after making sure that he had his bag of candy, as well as the spare bag full of food and drink, did he go outside to wait as well. He wanted to visit his family's graves one more time, but he knew that he didn't have the time for that. He stood by Karl with Azel standing beside him, waiting for Ibeyla and Raven.

Ibeyla helped Raven outside. "Can one of you go and get our Zoids? I'm not sure if Raven can walk that far..."

"I can go get them. But you'll have to meet me about a fourth of the way..... If the zoids try to get any closer that that the path will collapse..." Atherin offered/said.

"Just get it as close as you can..." Ibeyla said.

Atherin nodded and disappeared from sight. His senses and speed had returned; he was nearly back to normal. He approached the cavern the Zoids were housed in and sent a mental message to Azel to get the others in the village to start moving. He'd be as far as he could go with the Zoids in about fifteen minutes.

Ibeyla helped Raven out of the village. Karl and Obscura carried the few supplies they had, while Shadow was on lookout. Atherin stopped the Zoids when he got as far as they could go. Now all he had to do was to wait for the others to appear. The grouped reached Atherin in a few minutes.

Atherin jumped out of Eiji and helped load supplies into the Zoids that had empty space in their storage compartments. After they had packed their things away, they got into their zoids. "Alright Ibeyla, lead the way."

"You mean, I'll lead the way..." Raven opened a link to Atherin, "A-After all, I'm the only one t-that knows exactly w-where my brother lives..."

"I thought you said that Ibeyla knows where Horai is located?"

"Yeah... b-but she's n-never _been_ there..."

"Then you should have clarified.' Atherin said as they began their way to the Alca canyon.

"Hey... I-I was lucky t-to be a-wake at the time..." Raven said.

"True... So...how long will it take to get there?" Atherin asked. He was a little...behind on his Imperial territory map. He only knew where Porto and Jurei were located; anything else was just unexplored territory to him.

"N-not... too long..." Raven said quietly. He grabbed at his chest; his lungs acting up again...

Atherin could instantly tell that something was wrong just by the fact that Raven's sentence was broken and quiet. Not the tone that he usually used with him. "Something wrong with your lung again?"

"Y-yeah..." Raven said quietly. He tightened his grip on his shirt, his breathing shallow and gasping...

"Do you need to stop? It won't do you any good if you push yourself too much and not tell us about it..."

Raven shook his head, "I'll be f-fine..."

Atherin gave him a skeptical look, even though Raven couldn't see him. He'd keep a close eye and ear on him and if he thought that Raven was getting worse he'd stop them. Raven closed the link. He coughed, wiping the blood from his mouth. "Damn... R-Rabe's claws m-must have d-done more than b-bruise my lung..." he muttered, looking at the slick blood on his hand.

Even though Raven had closed the link between them Atherin could still hear Raven with his excellent hearing. He knew Rabe had done more than just bruise Raven's lung, but he thought that it had started to heal better than this.

Raven was feeling dizzy. He being fused with Shadow eased the pain, but he still felt strange. He coughed again, a little more violently. He wiped the blood away again. Atherin could hear Raven getting worse. He pulled Eiji in front of the BFSE, effectively stopping everyone. He opened a link to Raven only. "Now I know that your condition just got a little worse. Take some medicine or let me try and heal you a little."

Raven rolled his eyes. "I'm fine... just a c-cough, is all..."

"It doesn't smell like just a cough to me." Atherin said sternly. He could pick up on the blood that Raven was coughing.

"So? I-I've been c-coughing blood s-since I woke up..." Raven retorted.

"And you don't think I couldn't hear what you said after you cut your link with me?" Atherin shot back. He wasn't joking around and Raven could tell.

Raven sighed. "I-I hate when you d-do this..." he sighed.

"What? Worry about your health? 'Cause if it's annoying you I'll stop." Atherin said dangerously low. This wasn't something to try and cover up when it could land him back in a coma.

"I'm f-fine... the s-sooner we get t-to Horai, the b-better..." Raven said. The BFSE moved forward trying to get around Eiji. Atherin cut the link with Raven and moved out of the way. He wasn't happy, even Ibeyla and Karl could tell, and they didn't even hear the conversation. Raven wasn't happy. He just wanted to get to Horai as soon as possible.

Atherin followed behind a little. He was trying to calm down, it was just that sometimes Raven made things so difficult...especially when he was only concerned with his friend's health. Raven led the group. He grabbed at his chest again, his breathing labored and uneven. Blood leaked out of the corner of his mouth, and he quickly wiped it away.

Atherin could tell that there was more wrong than what Raven was telling him. But Raven didn't want his advice or concerns. So, he wasn't going to voice them. Raven closed him eyes, Shadow taking over. His heartbeat was getting irregular... Atherin still said nothing, even though he could basically sense what was happening to Raven. His heartbeat was getting irregular, his breathing shallow, he was coughing up blood and soon he'd lose consciousness and then they'd have to stop and figure out what was wrong with him.

Raven tightened his grip on his torn battle suit. He coughed again, spitting out nothing but blood this time. "Damn... it o-opened..." Atherin sighed. He could tell that Raven was getting worse. But...he wasn't about to go back up there and try to make him stop again. This was Raven's decision. He didn't want his concerns or worry... Raven coughed weakly, his eyes closing slightly. The burning in his lungs was getting worse. His vision was blurring, and he had to gasp for breath. Shadow had taken over, piloting for him...

Atherin tried to ignore what he was hearing and sensing from Raven's Zoid, but it was a little hard. He was still a little angry from earlier when Raven had thrown his concerns off, but that was no reason for him to not to try and help him. It would be a cruel lesson to learn for Raven, but Atherin wasn't going to try and push his concerns any more, nor was he going to try and make him stop. Raven was having problems breathing. His heart was acting up too. He reached to open a link, but he didn't have the strength anymore. His vision faded, and he was on the verge of losing consciousness...

Atherin couldn't take it any more. He could faintly hear Raven trying to open a link to one of them. He pulled Eiji in front of the BFSE again, making Shadow stop. He opened a com link to the BFSE and told Shadow to unmerge with Raven so then Ibeyla could use her necklace to hold him off until they got to Horai. He then opened a link to Spectral. "Ibeyla....Raven's lung's acting up again...it's pretty bad..."

Ibeyla paled. "This isn't good..." she said, bringing Spectral beside the BFSE. Shadow unmerged, reappearing beside the BFSE, leaving Raven in the cockpit, not wanting to move him and risk worsening his lung. Raven was just barely conscious, his breathing weak and raspy. He coughed again, spitting out the blood that filled his mouth.

Atherin followed behind Ibeyla a little. He wanted to make sure that he was alright, but he also didn't want a rebut as to why he didn't stop the BFSE with Eiji sooner. Ibeyla walked over to the BFSE's cockpit, opening it up. Raven wasn't moving anymore, the harness the only thing keeping him up. His shirt was dark with blood, more dripping out of his mouth. He was barely breathing; his heart and lungs both damaged...

Atherin was starting to regret not stopping Raven sooner, regardless of his constant 'I'll be alright' That and the fact that he's as stubborn as hell doesn't help matters... Ibeyla nearly died. She hadn't though he'd be in such bad shape. She climbed in and checked his pulse. It was dangerously low, and dropping.

Atherin jumped up onto the BFSE's opened cockpit door. He knew he should have stopped Raven the first time....even if it would have made him really angry... Ibeyla took off her necklace, wrapping it around his right wrist, making sure the charm was touching him. It glowed, stopping his condition from deteriorating any further. She also forced him to take some of the medicine. Despite that, he didn't show many signs of improvement; his wounds were severe and life-threatening.

Atherin bit his lower lip. Not even Ibeyla's necklace was helping him any more...but he knew one thing that could keep him alive... "....Ibeyla...? Let me...try..."

Ibeyla turned to him and sighed. "I know what you're gonna do..." she said, "It's not wise in your state, but if you feel its necessary, go ahead, by all means..."

"....He doesn't need a lot..." Atherin said upon seeing Ibeyla's concerned look. He knelt down in front of Raven, and made a small slash on his right wrist; he opened Raven's mouth a little and let his blood trickle into it. He didn't need to help Raven swallow, as he swallowed instinctively. Raven didn't open his eyes, instinctively swallowing the liquid in his mouth. He could tell it was Atherin's blood, again, but he was too weak to let it bother him at the moment...

After a few minutes Atherin pulled his wrist away. He couldn't chance losing any more blood at the moment. He put pressure on his wrist, and made the bleeding stop, now all that was left was to see if Raven would wake back up, and if Atherin's blood helped him any. Raven coughed and opened his eyes slightly, blinking slowly. He wiped his mouth and groaned. "Bleh..."

"Well, you wouldn't have had to drink it if you had listened to me the first time."

Raven narrowed his eyes. "W-well... I-I didn't want t-to slow us d-down... I've b-been bleeding s-since... the a-ttack... R-Rabe must b-be following me..."

"...Screw Rabe. Your health is more important than that bas- ...than that demon. You dying kinda defeats the purpose of me having saved you and losing a part of my memory." Atherin said harshly. He wasn't in the mood to deal with excuses.

Ibeyla put her hand on Atherin's shoulder. "There's no need to be harsh, Atherin. He was trying to keep us from being attacked again..." she said. As in knowing their conversation, Karl pulled his Zaber up. "I'm picking something up on radar, it looks like Rabe. We need to get moving, now..."

Atherin didn't say anything, though he knew Ibeyla had a point. However, it didn't condone putting one's health on the line. He jumped into Eiji and closed the hatch, waiting for them to start moving on to Horai. Raven took the controls and took the lead. Shadow flew alongside, not fusing. Ibeyla and Spectral stayed beside the BFSE, keeping an eye on Raven.

Atherin fell in line beside Karl. Eiji's radar was pretty sensitive so he was keeping a look out for Rabe as well. Raven was finding it extremely difficult to pilot the BFSE in his condition, but he didn't say anything or let Shadow fuse. He didn't want Shadow to be in pain either. He knew Horai was close, but he wasn't sure if Donnie would welcome him or not...

Atherin and Eiji kept their scanners on edge. There was a small blip following them but...he was sure that if Rabe decided to attack he would regret crossing an already pissed off vampire. He wasn't in any mood to deal with the bastard at the moment.

Raven forced himself to pilot BFSE on. Horai was now within sight, and he knew he just had to hang on for a few more minutes. He opened a link to everyone. "O-okay... Horai is j-just a m-ile away..." Atherin didn't answer. Rabe had made an attempt at getting closer to them, but had backed off at the last moment. He'd feel a little safer when they got to Horai.

Raven stopped the BFSE, seeing a large Zoid descending from Horai. It was a Whale King. Before he could say anything, the Zoid landed and a link opened to all of them. It was Donnie. "I understand you four are in need of help, especially Joyce. Please pilot your Zoids inside; I'll take you up to Horai..."

Atherin followed in after Karl. He had hardly heard what Donnie had said as he was too busy watching Rabe's blip as he stood still, most likely watching them, trying to figure out what they were up too. Raven managed to get out of the BFSE on his own, and sat down in front of it. Shadow landed and nosed him, whining loudly. She could sense what was wrong with her partner, even though she couldn't do anything. Ibeyla was out of her Zoid as well, checking on Raven.

Atherin jumped out of Eiji, still silent. Azel was beside him, mentally trying to get him to calm down. It was...kind of working, but at the same time...getting him angrier now that he had someone to vent to. Raven coughed again, wiping away the blood. He was still weak, and wasn't getting much better. He handed Ibeyla back her necklace, knowing he didn't need it. He was nervous about Atherin, his behavior putting him on edge.

Atherin was still silent. He didn't trust himself to speak at the moment, least he tell Raven what exactly he thought of his stubbornness and foolishness that _could_ have gotten him killed anyways! Azel letting him vent to him was starting to calm him down.

Raven waited for the Zoid to reach Horai. When it did, he told Shadow to fuse with the BFSE. Ibeyla told Obscura the same thing. When the Whale King's mouth opened, they were inside Horai's hanger. The zoids went into the hanger, their pilots trailing behind them. Azel was still trying to keep his partner from going off on Raven. It would take a little while more for him to calm down.

Ibeyla had to help Raven inside, he being unable to walk on his own. She allowed him to stand on his own as Donnie approached them. Atherin, Karl and Azel followed after them. Karl was also getting a little un-nerved by Atherin's sudden change in behavior, not ever seeing the vampire quiet for so long. He knew, however, that it had something to do with Raven's condition.

Donnie approached the group. "Welcome to Horai." he greeted. "My name is Donnie Chen, Joyce's brother..." he said, motioning to Raven. "Now... the main concern is those injured. Everything else can wait..."

That only applied to Raven, the only thing bothering Atherin were his burned hands; which would heal on their soon enough as well as his one fractured rib. He could wait a little while more to look for Rabe's weakness. After all, it's not like they were gonna go and fight him tomorrow!

Donnie helped Raven towards the medical room. He needed attention, and quickly. Ibeyla walked up to Atherin. "You better come with us Atherin, I'm sure Donnie will have something that'll help your hands..."

Atherin nodded slightly. He followed after them, his anger starting to subside, knowing that _now_ Raven could be treated properly. Donnie helped Raven onto a bed in the medical room. "Joyce... you're in really bad shape, you're lucky to be alive..." he said, turning to Ibeyla and Atherin. Karl had stayed to keep an eye on the Organoids. "What happened to my brother?"

"...He was nearly mauled to death by a Vareix Organoid..."

Donnie blinked. "A Vareix? I thought they were extinct...?"

"...Well apparently they're not. I've run into a hatchling that we left with someone else, and this Vareix that attacked 'Joyce' also attacked me as well."

"That would explain most of these wounds..." Donnie said, turning to look at his brother, "... but not all..." he trailed off, looking at the punctures on Raven's neck.

Atherin could see what Donnie was referring to. Well....might as well get it over with.... Raven _did_ say that Donnie was a trusting person...though Atherin wasn't sure how trusting he'd be of him after learning that _he_ was the one that made those wounds. "......I....take claim to those..." Atherin said quietly. He knew that he had some more explaining to do...

Donnie blinked. "... w-what?" he said, looking at him in confusion.

"I. Made. Those. Wounds."

Donnie sighed. "I understand that... I mean how, and more importantly, _why_?"

".....You've gotta be kidding me..." Atherin muttered to himself. "....For your first question as to how, it was done with these." He said as he showed Donnie his fangs; "As for why, you can thank Van for that. He caused me to go into a shock induced blood lust and Raven was...the one unfortunate enough to be closest to me... And just so you know it's not like I did it on purpose..."

Donnie flinched a little. "You're a vampire... and you bit my brother, and 'fed' off him?" he said, looking at him suspiciously.

"...Yes, I'm a vampire, and yes I've 'fed' off your brother, more than once with _his_ consent. And no, I didn't force him to give his consent. Those wounds on his neck were never supposed to happen. It was an accident that was out of my control." Atherin answered calmly. There was no need to lie to Donnie about anything.

"It was an accident, Donnie..." Raven said, making Donnie look at him. Donnie sighed. "Okay, if you say so Joyce..." he said, turning to Atherin."You haven't given me any reason to not trust you, so I'll give you a chance..."

"...That's more than what most people give me..." Atherin said quietly, before turning to Raven. "We need a little talk...'Joyce'."

Raven nodded, before turning to Donnie. "Can you give us a few minutes?" he asked. Donnie nodded, and he and Ibeyla left the room, leaving him and Atherin alone.

"....You really should have stopped sooner...instead of just trying to make it here... At least then you wouldn't have scared Ibeyla to death when her necklace didn't work on you. It would have taken all but three minutes for her to heal your wounds enough for us to make it here without you nearly dying on us." Atherin said strangely calm, but Raven could just barely make out a hint of anger that Atherin was keeping behind closed doors.

"I-I'm sorry... Atherin..." Raven said, lowering his gaze, "S-Shadow sensed Rabe n-earby, so I-I didn't want t-to stop, and p-put you, Karl a-and Ibeyla in d-danger..."

Atherin closed his eyes, keeping himself calm, before he opened them again. "I can understand that, but...it still doesn't condone neglect of your health. I'm really the last person that should be telling you this, so I find it a little sad that it has to come from me."

"I'm sorry, b-but I didn't r-realize how b-bad I was in-jured... I t-thought I w-was just c-coughing up m-more blood..."

Atherin narrowed his eyes a little, looking for any signs that Raven was lying about not knowing the seriousness of his wound, when he found none he spoke again. "...I'll forgive you, but you have to promise that you won't do anything that reckless again. If something feels even a little off I want you to tell either Ibeyla or myself."

Raven nodded. "Okay... I promise..." he agreed.

Atherin smiled, he was glad to know that Raven was going to take better care of himself. "Alright, I'm done lecturing you...but I can assure you that I'll start again if you make me that angry again....'Joyce'." Atherin smirked.

Raven narrowed his eyes. "Don't call me that, Dracula..."

"But it _is_ your name."

"My _old_ name..." Raven corrected.

"You don't correct Donnie. I don't see why I can't call you 'Joyce' either...after all....you hardly _ever_ call me by _my_ real name." Atherin's smirk widened a little.

"That's because that's how Donnie remembers me... he hasn't seen me since... the accident..." he trailed off, "And don't start with me, Atherin..."

Atherin raised an eyebrow at Raven when he called him by his name, his smirk dropping and a smile formed instead. "You really...need to chill. And you should know by now that if there's any opportunity for me to tease you, I'm gonna take it."

"I know, unfortunately..." Raven sighed, "You better behave yourself around Donnie. He's not as... brave as me, and I don't want you scaring him to within an inch of his life." he said, narrowing his eyes at him slightly.

"I won't scare him. I only have one chance to prove that I'm not too...dangerous... I'm not gonna blow it..."

"Good... Donnie is easily startled..." Raven said, sighing. "But, if I trust you that's basically all Donnie needs to trust you..."

"....But there's still a chance that he won't trust me. I can only be on my 'best' behavior for so long..."

Raven sighed. "As long as you don't hurt him or me, he'll trust you..."

"...Define 'hurting' you." Atherin smirked again.

"Trying to 'eat' me again..." Raven responded.

"....Will Donnie group 'donating' in the 'eating you' category?"

"If I explain, no, but I still don't think doing it in front of him is a good idea..."

"It's not like I want an audience either." Atherin scoffed. He found it rather.....intruding.

Raven chuckled slightly. "Don't worry... I'm sure Donnie would faint if he saw you 'eating' me..." he said, smirking.

"Hey! You said no scaring. You'll get me in trouble that way." Atherin mock pouted.

"Hey, I never said scaring him would get him to not trust you, I just said I wouldn't be too fond of it..."

"And I'm not fond of Donnie looking for my weakness." Atherin said seriously.

"You're 'weakness'?" Raven said, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"...You honestly didn't think that I was with out a weakness did you?"

Raven smirked. "I did..."

"It's not something to joke about. It could kill me instantly."

Raven's eyes widened slightly. "Okay..." he trailed off, "But... Donnie won't go looking for your weakness; he's not one to hurt people..."

"....I hope not....and I hope he considers me a 'person'. Most people don't..."

Raven smirked. "Don't worry; Donnie thinks everyone's a person. I mean, when we were kids, he had a hard time weeding the garden with Silvia, because he didn't want to hurt the weeds. So don't worry, he won't treat you any different..." Atherin chuckled a little. His poor mother couldn't even keep a garden...he and his siblings were forever tearing through it...that and the fact that he had burned the entire garden to the ground when he was six. His fire power became _very_ evident that day.

Raven smirked. "So don't worry. I have a feeling you and Donnie will be fast friends. He's a giving person; who knows, if you ask him right, he just might let you 'feed' off him. He's not one to turn down someone who needs something..."

"I don't think he'd be as willing as you to do something like that just yet. I'm gonna go get some juice from my spare bag. You want anything?"

"Don't worry, if I feel fine letting you 'feed' off m-me, he'll feel fine too..." Raven said, "And no t-thanks, I don't need anything..." he said. He didn't feel like chancing drinking anything with his lung still healing. "Alright, I'll be back shortly then... Just...don't do anything reckless okay? I think you've scared us enough to last us a life time." Atherin said as he turned and left the medical room.

An unknown person carefully walked down the dark corridors of Horai. He had managed to sneak in by stowing away on the Whale King. He was supposed to be looking for Horai's library, but his sense of smell had gotten the better of him. Right now he was following a blood trail to an injured person. He hid behind a door as the medical room was opened and a boy walked out. The boy felt familiar, but his mind was on his 'supper' not someone who could cause him trouble. As soon as the boy was out of sight, he entered to medical room, looking and finding the injured person.

Raven looked up when he heard the door closing again, thinking Donnie had come to check on him again, but was a little taken aback as basically an older version of Atherin stood in front of the door. There were some differences though. He looked to be about 21, with cold lavender-blue eyes, and two twin deep blue Zi mark lines under his right eye. He was also wearing black shorts that stopped right below the knee, and a black mesh tank. He was also wearing a scarf similar to Atherin's...except his was blue...not red.

Raven stared at the newcomer. He 'looked' like Atherin, but he could tell he wasn't. He was more than a little confused, because he knew Donnie was the only person on Horai, and this person hadn't come with them on the Whale King.

The unknown young man took a step forward, not even making a sound with his boots. His eyes started to gleam red as he zeroed in on Raven's unprotected neck. His eyes narrowed slightly before he disappeared and was beside Raven in an instant. Before Raven could do anything, the man had him pinned so he had a clear shot at his neck. Right before the man could bite him though, Raven suddenly jerked, trying to wriggle free, this caused the unknown vampire to miss and bit his shoulder instead. He growled in annoyance but didn't let go. He could still drain this human dry.

Raven yelped in pain, struggling desperately to try and free himself. He didn't know where this vampire had come from, but he knew he was serious trouble...

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_**Author's Note:**_ Well…at least they got to Horai alright. Atherin lectured Raven about taking better care of himself. But what's this!? Who IS this unknown vampire that's on Horai!? And what'll happen to Raven!? You'll just have to wait for the next chapter!! Please Review!!


	18. Reunited

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do NOT own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia and Driacoul do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME.**__ The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if Redai is used without my permission, however, if you used Jurei please make note of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ Here we are, chapter 18! Last time they made it Horai with out incident too!! We all got to meet Donnie and an unknown person is lurking around… And unfortunately…he's found Raven… Who is this person and what does he want!?

To iwalkthelight: I kinda forgot to answer your question about getting this fic done. Sorry. ^^; To answer your question, we're not eager to finish this right now. It's gonna be a pretty long fic just by looking at it… It's just that I have what we've been working on saved to my desktop and I can access it any time I want to work on it…which usually results in quick updates. Hope that explains my updating a it a little better!

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me. Thanks to those of you that Reviewed!!

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Ͽ Reunited Ͼ

Atherin's head snapped to where he could hear Raven's cry of pain. He could pick up on the smell of blood and so dismissed it as his lung acting up again...but his lung wouldn't be causing such fear from him. He dropped what he was holding and took off towards the medical room. He couldn't tell what was causing such a sudden emotion of fear from Raven, and he thought the worst... /What if Rabe managed to get on!/ He quickened his pace, and was grateful to find that no one else was down this corridor. The medical doors flew open, and at first Raven couldn't see anything, but when he felt the other vampire being tackled off him, he knew that Atherin was now here.

Raven grabbed at his shoulder, gritting his teeth. He could feel blood, and tried to stop the bleeding. He was a little dizzy, but thankfully Atherin had tackled off the other vampire before he could take anymore blood.

Atherin and the unknown vampire were growling lowly at each other. Both were daring the other to try and make a move. After a few tense minutes they both relaxed their stances and started to try and comprehend if what they were seeing was real. Then after concluding that they were in fact real they both said at the same time; "I thought you were dead!!"

Raven stared at both Atherin and the unknown vampire. "Uhh...Atherin? W-what's going... on?"

Atherin turned back to Raven, while the other vampire wiped the blood from his mouth. "Raven...this is...Tyme... He's my older brother..."

Raven blinked. "But... y-you said your f-family was d-dead..."

"....I thought he was dead. No one came to look for me after the attack. I was eleven, had just lost my entire known world, and seeing the scorched and the...deteriorating…bodies…it wasn't much to go on for identification...."

Raven nodded. "B-but... how'd he g-get here?"

"...That's a good question. How did you get on Horai?" Atherin asked as he turned to his brother again. "...I hid under a white Blade Liger." "Figures...." Atherin muttered.

"And Eiji d-didn't realize it?" Raven said, smirking slightly. The wound had stopped bleeding, but the struggle had reopened his lung. He coughed, wiping away the blood that came up.

"How could Eiji tell when Tyme basically has the same 'body signature' that I do? And your lung has been re-opened hasn't it?" Atherin asked narrowing his eyes at Raven.

Raven nodded. "Y-yeah... the s-sudden movement m-must have re-opened it..."

"...I'm sorry... I didn't know that you were a friend of Atherin's." Tyme said as he came and stood by his brother. "Let me help you, as an apology for hurting you."

Raven looked over at Tyme. "O-okay..." he said, "B-but... it w-won't involve b-blood, will it?"

Tyme chuckled. "No. I'm a rare kind of vampire that has advanced healing abilities. I don't need to make you drink blood for this, unless you're on death's door. And don't worry. It doesn't hurt." Tyme said as his eyes turned gold. He lightly touched the area around Raven's wounded lung, the golden fingerprints that were left vanished after a few moments.

Raven blinked, and took a deep breath. It didn't hurt nearly as bad, and he didn't cough up blood. "T-thanks... Tyme..."

"Don't mention it. Besides, it's the least I could do for biting you." Tyme replied.

"...Umm...Raven....? How're we gonna explain my brother's sudden appearance to Ibeyla, Karl and most importantly Donnie?"

"It's okay Tyme, y-you didn't know..." Raven said, before turning to Atherin, "That's... a really good question..." he said, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"...I'm sure that Ibeyla and Karl will understand...but I'm already on thin ice with Donnie... And I don't think _you_ showing up is helping my cause any..." Atherin directed at Tyme.

"I'm not as reckless as you are, dear brother. I know you still have your sadistic side."

Raven nodded. "Ibeyla will give anyone a chance, and so will Karl. Donnie will be a little nervous, especially after this..." he motioned to his injured shoulder.

"...Raven...you're like a magnet for us vampires...." Atherin joked as he set out to wrap his injured shoulder. Tyme sat down on one of the chairs, waiting for when he and Atherin would have to explain themselves.

Raven laughed slightly. "I don't mean too..." he said, watching Atherin wrap his shoulder.

"It's your blood. It's too sweet for your own good." Atherin jested as he finished wrapping the wound up. He looked to the door. He could count two sets of footsteps. "We've got company."

Raven rolled his eyes at Atherin's joke. "Just what I wanted to hear..." he sighed, before looking at the door. "Donnie probably, he's coming to check up on me..."

"I know...always glad to please. And it sounds like Donnie and Ibeyla...no Karl or Organoids..." Atherin replied without missing a beat to Raven's gripe.

Raven mock glared at Atherin, before he looked to Tyme. "You're gonna have some explaining to do to my brother. Just... be on your best behavior, and I'm sure he'll be happy to let you stay..."

"I'm not like my little brother... I have no reason to terrify anyone just for fun. You don't have to worry about me so much." Tyme relied as Atherin took one of Raven's pillows and threw it at his brother. He caught it without even looking; before he threw it back at Atherin, with a lot more force than Atherin had thrown it at him, nearly causing the chair that Atherin was sitting on to topple...

Raven laughed, until the door opened. "Joyce... what's going on?" Donnie asked, before he saw Tyme. "And... who is this?"

Atherin looked to Raven before answering. "...Well... He's my older brother....Tyme..." He wasn't going to say how exactly his brother managed to get onto Horai without being discovered, not until he was asked.

Donnie turned to Tyme. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Donnie Chen, Joyce's twin brother..." he said, holding out his hand to shake. Tyme stood up and shook Donnie's hand. "It's nice to meet you Donnie. I'm Tyme, Atherin's older brother." Tyme answered. /Kiss up.../ {I heard that Atherin.} /Damn you. /

Donnie nodded. "Atherin didn't mention he had an older brother when he introduced himself, or did I just miss it?"

"....I presumed him dead.... Our village was attacked and destroyed, and I thought I was the only one that survived it..." Atherin explained.

Donnie turned. "I'm sorry to hear that..." he said, "But... if you thought he was dead, how did he get here?"

".....Umm....he snuck on....when we boarded the Whale King...."

Donnie turned to Atherin. "Well... that explains why Horai was so nervous. She had sensed someone else besides my brother, Karl, you and Ibeyla outside." Ibeyla walked in, but stopped upon seeing Tyme. "Raven, Atherin... who's this?"

"....This is Tyme, my older brother. Tyme...this is Ibeyla." "It's a pleasure to meet you Ibeyla. I hope my younger brother hasn't been too much trouble for you."

Ibeyla nodded. "A pleasure to meet you too..." she smiled."And Atherin hasn't been _too_ much trouble..." she joked.

"Hmmm? Not that much trouble? Well...that's a rarity...." Tyme joked as Atherin ignored him. He knew when his brother was trying to get under his skin...after all...he had learned how to do so as well from Tyme. Behind his polite demeanor was someone even worse that him when it came to getting under someone's skin.

Ibeyla laughed and Raven smirked slightly. "You don't know the have of it..." he said, elbowing Atherin lightly.

"Ha-ha... You're just as guilty as I am when it comes to trouble making." Atherin replied.

Raven smirked. "I haven't done a thing..."

"Really? I think you're the one that instigated a couple of my 'jokes' as well as challenge Van to that dumb 'I'm more of a man than you are' thing with the cave that held the Damascus. If anything, you're the one that plots them all and I carry them out."

Raven sighed. "I told you, the thing with the Spyrix was an accident..." he defended, "It wasn't like I _wanted_ to get eaten by those Spyrix..."

"No, but you still challenged Van to go _in_ there." Atherin shot back. Donnie was looking at Raven in concern/horror after learning that his twin was nearly eaten by Spyrix. Tyme was watching on with amusement evident in his eyes, he could tell that Atherin was trying and succeeding in getting Raven riled up.

Raven saw the look that Donnie was giving him. "I'm _fine_ Donnie..." he said, before turning to Atherin."Well... if I hadn't been attacked by those damned monsters, you wouldn't have found the Damascus..."

"...Not that it did much good anyways...." Atherin said poking at a scar on his chest.

"Well... it kept Rabe from getting at you in the first attack..." Raven shot back.

"Yeah, for one attack, still doesn't do me much good if the suit is destroyed after that."

"But, it kept him from tearing you apart and getting to your neck, for a few minutes, at least..."

Tyme's eyes narrowed as he heard that information. He strode over to Atherin and grabbed his arm, basically dragging him out of the medical room. Before Tyme could get him too far from Raven he told him this in an undertone; "Way to go Raven." And then to Tyme; "Alright, no need to tear my arm off. I'll follow." Tyme didn't let go though and took Atherin to a side room where the others wouldn't be able to hear them. Donnie, Raven and Ibeyla looked at each other. "Well... that was unexpected..." Donnie sighed.

After making sure that the side room they were in was secure, Tyme turned to Atherin having let him go when they got into the room. After a few minutes of silence and glaring at each other, did Tyme pull Atherin into a hug. "Now...you didn't want me to express my concerns in front of everyone did you?" Tyme asked as he received an irritated groan from Atherin. "Thought not." He smiled letting him go.

"It didn't mean that you had to pull me in here just to give me a hug. Couldn't you have waited 'til _after_ everyone had gone to bed!?" "Could have, but chose not to. Now come on, I think our little 'talk' is over." Tyme said as he unlocked the door, pretending to still be angry about what he had learned. Atherin soon followed after, looking like Tyme had given him a real 'talking' too. Raven snickered quietly. Donnie and Ibeyla remanded quiet, not wanting to say anything.

"Shut up Raven. I got a real earful thanks to you. You have never seen a vampire truly and utterly angry. I advise against it." Atherin said lowly to Raven, even though all he received was a hug.

"Really...?" Raven said, rolling his eyes slightly. He crossed his arms, motioning to the bite marks on his neck.

"It's not a taboo for you. And you know I never intentionally wanted to bite your neck." Atherin said a little crossly.

"Yeah... it still hurt like hell..." Raven shot back.

"It did?" Atherin asked genuinely confused. Did it hurt more when he was in blood lust compared to when he wasn't? After seeing the hurt look in Atherin's eyes started to make Raven feel a little guilty.

Raven sighed and nodded. "I was scared, and you weren't as careful as you normally were, so it hurt worse..." he said quietly, rubbing his neck where the punctures were, "But you didn't have any control, so it wasn't your fault..."

"...Sorry..." Atherin said, luckily for them the others were too busy talking about something to pay too much attention to their conversation.

"Like I said, it wasn't your fault..." Raven said, "It wasn't like you consciously wanted to hurt me..."

"Regardless of the fact that I wasn't aware of my actions, I still hurt you. And even if we were playing around earlier jibing at each other you still shouldn't have said anything about me being bitten on my neck... You really don't want to get Tyme angry..."

"Sorry..." Raven lowered his gaze, "I wasn't thinking..."

Atherin sighed, "...Don't worry about it... He would have found out eventually....but I wanted to be the one to tell him.... At least then he wouldn't have made a scene..." Atherin said, glaring at Tyme, as if he was still mad at him. Raven nodded. "He's just worried about you..."

"Even so...it didn't mean that he had the right to drag me off like that... But...don't we need to be discussing Rabe? And possibly finding his weakness?" Atherin asked as he looked over to were Tyme, Ibeyla and Donnie were chattering about something none life threatening.

Donnie turned. "We can look in the library tomorrow... but its too late now…"

"....Where are we suppose to stay exactly?" Atherin asked when Donnie told them that they'd be book hunting tomorrow.

"I have more than enough spare rooms for everyone..." Donnie said, "Joyce is going to stay in the medical room, so I can keep an eye on him. Ibeyla can sleep in the room across the hall, and Atherin and Tyme can sleep in either of the two remaining rooms. Karl is already in the remaining room."

Atherin nodded as he got up to follow the others out and to his room. "Night...don't let us vampires bite." He said to Raven before he turned and left.

Raven rolled his eyes and groaned. He had it hard enough with Atherin, but now he had two vampires to deal with. Tyme chuckled at Atherin's 'goodnight' comment. "Good night Raven. I'll see you in the morning." He said politely as he too left, taking the room that was across from Atherin's. Raven nodded. Ibeyla said goodnight and went to her room. Donnie made sure he was alright, before he too left.

Morning soon came. Tyme and Atherin were the first ones up, and were using a spare empty room to spar. They were making sure that they didn't break anything. Before they had started, however, Tyme had healed Atherin's hands and fractured rib. He was back at full health.

Karl heard a lot of noise in a room few doors down. He got up and walked out of his room to investigate. He walked in and stopped, seeing Atherin and someone he hadn't meet before. "Uhh... did I miss something important last night?"

Tyme and Atherin stopped what they were doing. Atherin was panting, while Tyme had hardly broken a sweat. A silent statement that said Tyme was much more powerful than Atherin was. "Morn-ing....Karl… Th-This is T-Tyme ...He's my older…brother..."

"Older brother? I don't think I remember you mentioning him..." Karl said as he walked in. He held out his hand to shake. "My name is Major Karl Lichten Schubaltz..." he introduced himself. Tyme shook Karl's hand. "And I'm Tyme, Atherin's older brother. Would you like to spar with us? It's just hand to hand, no supernatural abilities or anything like that."

"No thanks, I'm not much of a fighter, Tyme..." Karl politely declined. "If you're sure about it, I guess we should apologize for waking you up." Tyme said as he saw Atherin regain his breath to start another round. Karl shook his head. "It's alright..." he said, "I'm normally up earlier than this..." he said.

"If you say so, hopefully we won't wake any of the others....we have been sparring for over two hours now...so we've been lucky." Tyme said as he motioned for Karl to move or chance being too close to him for when Atherin charged again. Karl nodded. "I'm going to the kitchen, do either of you want water?"

"Yeah, that'd be much appreciated." Tyme answered as Atherin charged again. Getting to his older brother within a blink of an eye for Karl, but was still too slow to Tyme, who had basically seen Atherin moving as if in slow motion. The punches and kicks were all too fast for Karl to see, but he could tell that Atherin wasn't landing anything.

Karl nodded and left, letting the two spar uninterrupted. He walked into the kitchen and poured Atherin and Tyme some water. He walked back to the room with the glasses and sat them on the dresser.

"Thanks Karl!" Tyme said chipper as he easily blocked all of Atherin's blows, before he caught Atherin's foot that was aimed for his side. He easily flipped Atherin and Atherin corrected himself, landing on both feet, panting even harder that when Karl had first come in. "Alright, I think you need a break." Tyme said as he pointed to the glasses of water behind Atherin. Atherin nodded, too tired to speak, and drained his cup within seconds. "What're....you gonna do....Karl?"

"I'm probably going to check on Raven. I saw Donnie go in to check on him thirty minutes ago, and he hasn't come out, so I assume something's wrong..." Karl responded, "... not to mention Shadow went in an hour ago and hasn't come out since..."

"....Shadow....would…..say by...his side for....hours…if he so much....as....got a scratch on....him... And....I think....D-Donnie might...just want to....catch up with him.... They haven't s-seen...each other for eight years... But I think...I'll go with you...." Atherin said between his hard breathing. "I'll go as well. It's a little hard to spar when your partner wanders off."

Karl nodded and walked back to the medical room. He opened the door and walked in. Raven lifted his head from where he was sitting on his bed. He was wearing another black shirt, and was looking better than he had yesterday, now that his lung was healed. Donnie was in a chair beside the bed, and Shadow was curled up at their feet. "Hey guys..." Raven said.

"....H-Hey... Glad to see that…you're doing....better..." Atherin said, as he came up to Raven's bedside, all sweaty and out of breath. "Good Morning Raven. How's your lung doing today?" Tyme asked politely, not at all sweating or breathing hard, looking as if he had just basically woken up.

"It's better..." Raven responded to Tyme and Atherin. Shadow lifted her head and looked at Tyme. She narrowed her eyes and snarled loudly, baring her teeth.

"Ah, yes. I've heard about you Shadow. And I can not blame you for being so angry with me. You have my deepest apologies about the matter." Tyme said to Shadow, not at all fazed or intimidated about the snarling, over protective black organoid. Shadow lifted her head and sniffed at him, cocking her head.

Tyme let Shadow sniff him, knowing that it wouldn't do any good to get her even angrier at him. "I'm glad to hear that Raven. If it starts to act up again, please let me know. I'll be more than happy to help." Atherin sat down on the edge of Raven's bed, his muscles aching from the torture--the sparring practice that his brother had put him through...and would put him through again later on...

Shadow blinked and growled, nosing Tyme's arm. She licked his hand, wagging her tail. Raven nodded. He wouldn't hide his injuries anymore. He looked over at Atherin. "Looks like you lost..." he said, smirking.

Atherin didn't look surprised by the fact Shadow had already warmed up to his brother. "...Tyme's always....had this special....animal magnetism.... Hell, not even a rabid wolf would attack him... So I can see Shadow warming up to him real fast." Atherin said, still trying to get his heart rate to slow down from his morning's exercise. Shadow purred and licked his hand again, wagging her tail. Raven looked back to Atherin. "What happened to you? You look like you ran a marathon..."

"...A marathon would have been so much better... This is just Tyme's morning sparring practice..... Mind you...he's fully developed....I still have a few years before I'm any where _near_ his level...."

Raven smirked. "So I take it you got your ass kicked?"

"Ha! So funny! I'd like to see what _you_ look like after sparing with someone who's more than fifty times stronger than you are for two and a half hours...."

Raven smirked again. "What do you think I did in the military, Dracula?" he retorted.

"Oops...sorry… I forgot to convert it to human figures for you. He's fifty times stronger than me by vampire calculations which means....he's....a little over 350 times stronger than you...or simply put...it's like you verses your BFSE... And he hasn't reached his full potential yet."

Raven shrugged. "I'll be sure not to make him mad..." he said, "If he can kick your ass that badly, he'd probably put me in the hospital in a heartbeat..."

"...Faster than a heartbeat..." Atherin corrected. "I won't even be able to hold a candle to him 'til I'm eighteen.... I just like to put myself through hell...multiple times a day..."

"Faster? Great..." Raven rolled his eyes, "But I won't be doing anything for awhile, at least until my wounds heal..."

"...I think he'll give you a handicap if you were to ever spar with him..." Atherin said as his heart rate returned to normal.

Raven nodded. "I don't need that..." he said.

"You don't want a handicap? It was nice knowing you then..."

"I'm not going to spar, I value living..."

"Good choice.... I didn't want to spar either, but Tyme had other plans....and dragged me outta bed at five this morning.... I think he said we'd be sparring again with in the next hour...joy..."

"You shouldn't be sparring Atherin..." Donnie said, "Your wounds still need time to heal properly and time for your strength to return..."

"Tyme already took care of that... He's a rare type of vampire that has advanced healing abilities.... I'm at full health again... Tyme wouldn't make me spar if I wasn't." Atherin replied to Donnie.

"Okay..." Donnie responded. "That must have been what Raven was talking about, him healing his lung..."

"I couldn't heal it fully though... His internal injuries were very deep. It's a miracle he was up and walking. Let alone alive. I've done what I can, but it'll still take some time for his wounds to heal...even with my help..."

"Well... this is what happens when you get nearly ripped open by a Vareix..." Raven said, rubbing the healing punctures on his side.

"...I'd let them be if I were you.... The more that you mess with them the more likely they'll get infected and leave nasty scars..." Tyme said as he saw Raven irritating the puncture wounds.

Raven looked at him. "Sorry..." he said, stopping.

"There's no need to apologize... I just don't think you want them to get infected.... If Vareix puncture wounds are any thing like...vampire's....then... the more that you mess with them the higher the chance that you'll get them infected......and....the higher the chance the infection will kill you.... I'm not sure about Vareix fangs...but vampire fangs are coated with a clear liquid similar to saliva, but...it's deadly if...an enzyme is activated as you irritate the wound..." Tyme explained.

Raven blinked, before looking over at Atherin. "You didn't mention that when I offered to let you 'feed' off me, Atherin..." he said, clearly a little nervous.

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_**Author's Note:**_ Well…it was kind of a slow chapter… Nothing too serious happened. We got to meet Atherin's older brother Tyme too! Atherin's happy that he's still alive and now their fighting strength has increased at least ten fold. But what's this? There's some information that Atherin was holding out on!? Why would he do that!? You'll just have to wait and find out!! Please Review!!


	19. The Truth

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do NOT own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia, and Driacoul do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to me. The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if Redai is used without my permission, but if you use Jurei please make note of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ Here we are, chapter 19!! Last time we got to meet Atherin's older brother Tyme. He also…gave some very concerning information about vampire's bite marks. How come Atherin never told Raven this!? Well you're about to find out!!

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Ͽ The Truth Ͼ

"...I didn't know.... ....I was never taught anything like that.... I wouldn't have begun to learn anything about 'feeding' until I was the age I am now.... And not needing to 'feed' until I was eighteen... The entire village was destroyed when I was eleven.... I had to figure things out for myself......" Atherin replied, his eyes down cast. Raven sighed. "It's not your fault you didn't know..."

".......Perhaps..... I never should have left the village until I was eighteen..... There's a lot that I don't know.... I know that Tyme can't help...he was sixteen when the attack happened.... He was just starting to learn the basics about 'feeding'....and I'm sure that all the vampire books you checked out said the exact same thing....which is probably why....you snuck onto Horai..."

Raven looked at Atherin. "You mean I've been letting you bite and 'feed' off me when you didn't know what you were doing?!"

Atherin almost flinched at Raven's sudden cold tone toward him. It was an even colder tone than when they first met. He had _some_ idea as to what he was doing. He had never left one of his 'victims' alive before, so...he never had to worry about it too much....

He...just basically followed what his instincts told him to do....and he had been extremely careful with Raven...not wanting to hurt him or anything like that. "........Not really....... I.....was just doing what my instincts told me was right..... Have I made mistakes? Of course I have........ Everyone does...... I've checked every library I could reach trying to find _any_thing that would help me....... No one was there to tell me...that at thirteen...I'd experience my first forced blood lust, no one was there to tell me that at fourteen....I'd lose all my senses for a week and be at the element's mercy.

No one was there to tell me anything.... Those things that happened...were never discussed in the village.... it was common.... It was common for Tyme or Ryoko to just....disappear for a few days....most likely taken to a safe house where they could experience those things in a safe place.... Where they couldn't hurt any one and nothing could hurt them... I'm sorry.... I'm sorry that I have no clue as to what I'm doing. All that I know is from having mimicked my parents or older siblings......or finding a tidbit in a book that I was lucky enough to chance upon...." Atherin answered with no emotion at all in his voice.

Raven looked at him for a moment before he got up. "I... I need to be alone for a minute..." he said, walking out the door. Donnie sighed and got up. "I'll keep an eye on him..." he said as he walked out after Raven.

Tyme walked over to where Atherin was sitting on the bed still, looking like he was just about to break down. He was shaking from basically telling his deepest, darkest secret....and he was starting to shake worse as the realization sank in that...Raven could possibly...hate him....for real.... He didn't know if his frail heart could take it...after all...Raven was one of his only friends....

"...Atherin...? It's not your fault.... You were thrown into the world with no knowledge of anything...even less than what I had....and you've figured out how to 'feed' properly.... You're not hurting him at all.... I've seen the punctures that you've left....so don't tell me otherwise.... I at least knew how to bite when I was cast out into the world...." Tyme tried to get Atherin to calm down...but it wasn't working...

"....Come on.... Let's get you back to your room to settle down...." Tyme said as he helped Atherin up...well...more like picked him up as Atherin wasn't making any attempts at moving just yet. Tyme turned to Karl; "I'm sorry that you have to know this as well... I only ask that you don't scorn him.... As for me....I'll take whatever words you have to say to me."

Karl looked at Tyme. "Scorn him? Why would I do that? He didn't know... it's not his fault that he didn't know something..."

"Thank you for understanding.... If....anyone needs us....we'll be in Atherin's room.... I don't think he can take much more of this..." Tyme said as he looked to his still silent brother, who looked about ready to fall to pieces at the first loud sound that reached him. Karl nodded and opened the door for him. It was the least he could do.

Tyme lead Atherin back to his room. He had to support Atherin on him as they made their way. He opened the door to Atherin's room and helped him to his bed. Atherin looked devoid of any and all his emotions; he wouldn't be speaking anytime soon... Tyme just hoped that Raven would understand...and wouldn't hurt Atherin any more than he already had...

Tyme wasn't having any luck in getting Atherin to say something. The boy looked as if his soul had been torn from his body. "It's no use... He's not going to respond to me...." Tyme sighed. He turned and saw Karl standing in the doorway. "...Could you watch him for me? Just for a few minutes? I'm going to go get his bag that's still in his Zoid..." Karl nodded and stayed in the doorway, keeping an eye on Atherin. Tyme left Atherin's room to get his spare bag, leaving Karl to watch over Atherin. He was still shaking slightly, but it had subsided immensely from where it had been just a few minutes before.

Raven was sitting in the garden, throwing pebbles into the small pond. He was a little unnerved by what he had just learned, but he was starting to calm down. Rabe stood in the shadows in human form, his eyes focused on Raven. He smirked darkly, showing his fangs. He had followed Raven's trail of blood from the village, and was ready to finish off his prey... Raven remained by the pond, watching the fish swim around. He didn't realize that Rabe was just feet away...

Rabe had waited long enough. Before Raven could react, or even realize he was there, he had grabbed him by his shirt and pinned him to the tree beside him. Raven's eyes went wide when he realized it was Rabe. "Happy to see me?" he hissed, before sinking his fangs into Raven's throat...

Atherin was still out of it, but...something was telling him to go walk around... It might make him feel a little better... He got up shakily and started to just walk, not really looking where he was going. Karl didn't know if he should try to make Atherin sit back down or not, but he figured that since he was now starting to show some response he'd let him walk, but he'd be right there if something were to happen.

Raven groaned, his eyes closing slightly. He was slowly weakening, Rabe draining his blood. Even though he was in human form, Rabe was still much more powerful than Raven, making escaping impossible. He couldn't even struggle, both pinned and lacking the strength. He groaned weakly, his head lowering slightly, weakening further as Rabe continued to drink his blood...

Atherin wandered around Horai and somehow found himself out side in a garden like area. Karl continued to follow him, making sure he didn't run into anything or trip over something. The wind blew and with it the scent of Raven's blood. Atherin lifted his head in the direction that the blood was coming from. His eyes were still emotionless as he slowly made his way to where Raven was. He soon came upon Raven...with Rabe pinning him to a tree. His boot had snapped a branch, him not really caring about being quiet at the moment, thus getting Rabe's attention...

Rabe released Raven's neck and turned, narrowing his eyes as he saw Atherin. Raven didn't react, his head down, seemingly unconscious... or dead. The only reason he was up was that Rabe still had him pinned. "Well, well... I was beginning to wonder if you'd show up..." Rabe smirked, showing his bloody fangs, "Raven didn't even put up a fight and even after sucking him dry, I'm still 'hungry'..."

"..........." Was Atherin's remark, his eyes were devoid of emotion still. It was something that Rabe noticed quickly.

Rabe narrowed his eyes. "What's the matter, Atherin? Vareix got your tongue?" he said, smirking as he wiped Raven's blood from his mouth.

"............." Still no reply, Atherin turned to leave, starting to confuse Rabe a little. He hadn't even made _one_ aggressive threat or move at him.

Rabe narrowed his eyes further. "Leaving your best friend to die, Atherin?" he mocked, smirking to show his blood-coated fangs. He growled when he received no answer. "Hey! I'm talking to you, vampire!"

Atherin cut Rabe a glance at his remark, but he stopped and turned back to face Rabe. His eyes still had no emotions playing in them, like they normally did. He did, however, walk towards Rabe, there was no aggression at all to be seen, and from where Rabe was standing, it looked like Atherin was having a difficult time walking. He walked right past Rabe; Rabe still confused about Atherin's non aggression, didn't stop him, as Atherin stood if front of Raven, and again turned to face Rabe. "............." He was still silent, not speaking a word, but his gesture said, if you want to get to him, then you'll have to go through me.

Rabe narrowed his eyes, releasing his hold on Raven. He slid to the ground, his eyes closed, seemingly dead. "What do you think you're doing, vampire?" Rabe hissed, "He's _my_ prey..."

Atherin didn't look to Raven to make sure he was okay. He could faintly hear his heart beat still, and that was all that he needed to know. His emotionless gaze was fixed on Rabe. It....was un-nerving Rabe a little. It was like staring into clouded mirrors, where one had no idea what was just behind the cloudiness...

Raven was just barely hanging on, only just conscious. His heartbeat was slowing, falling to a dangerously low level. He barely even registered Atherin's presence, and he honestly wasn't sure if he was there to help or not. Rabe was getting slightly nervous, seeing Atherin acting so strangely. He transformed back into an Organoid, lowering his head to his level, snarling and baring his fangs...

Atherin was unfazed by Rabe's transformation back into an Organoid. He was faintly aware of the fact that he was starting to scare the demon. If he wanted to get rid of him with causing any more damage than he would have to truly terrify him. He turned to Raven, no longer fixing Rabe with his empty stare. He picked Raven up by the front of his shirt and pinned him back to the tree. He didn't even glance back at Rabe as he 'bit' Raven's neck again.

Rabe's eyes widened and he backed away. Something was wrong with Atherin... he was eating his best friend! He snorted in fear and sank into the shadows... Raven opened his eyes slightly, feeling pressure on his neck again. His heart nearly stopped when he realized Atherin had bitten into his neck. He tried to struggle, but he was so weak he could barely move. He was so panicked and horrified; he didn't even realize that he wasn't feeling any pain...

Atherin pulled back as he was slightly aware of the panic that he was causing Raven. There wasn't any blood dripping from his mouth as he had 'bitten' on the opposite side that Rabe had. He loosened his grip on Raven's shirt and from pinning him. Raven fell forward a little but Atherin caught him before he could hurt himself.

Raven stared at Atherin in horror, unsure of what had just happened. Atherin had bitten him, and now he was unsure if Atherin was going to hurt him or not. He tried to get free of Atherin's grip, but he was too weak... Atherin was still void of emotion at the moment; he was basically working on automatic right now. He could feel Raven's heart starting to beat faster and more frantically the longer he was within his vicinity... Rabe had only drained blood from Raven this time, not tore open his side. He needed to get the bleeding to stop so then he wouldn't lose any more blood.

His free palm glowed a soft green and he pressed his palm to Rabe's puncture wounds, the wounds sealing, and the bleeding stopping. He removed his palm, before he tried to get Raven to walk back with him to someone else to take him to the medical room, but Raven wasn't moving... Raven was frozen. He didn't have a clue what Atherin had just done to him, but he couldn't feel blood dripping from the punctures anymore. Atherin tugged at Raven to move.

Rabe glared at the two from the shadows. "So... he _was_ faking!" he hissed to himself, narrowing his eyes. He snarled and lunged from the shadows, in between Raven and Atherin. "How dare you trick me, Atherin!!" he snarled, whipping him and Raven with his tail...

Atherin held his torso where Rabe had whipped him. He struggled to get back up, one hand holding himself, and the other trying to push himself back up from the ground. His eyes were still devoid of life, but he was aware enough to know that Raven wouldn't stand a chance.

Rabe snarled and turned to Raven. "Now... where were we...?" he hissed, baring his fangs in a twisted smirk. He opened his jaws and lunged... Atherin had managed to shakily get up, and made a jerky run to get in front of Raven before Rabe could clamp down on him.

Rabe snorted in annoyance, seeing that Atherin was in his jaws and not Raven. He spit him out, swinging his head and knocking him to the ground. He whipped his tail around and pinned Raven to the tree. Raven cried out in pain, the spikes of Rabe's tail tip sunken into his chest, dangerously close to his heart and lungs...

Atherin staggered back up onto his feet. He saw Rabe pin Raven to a tree with his tail and held him there. He made a jerky dash again, once again getting in front of Raven right before Rabe could bite him. Rabe, once again, had Atherin in his jaws...

Rabe narrowed his eyes and snarled, before he tossed Atherin away. He growled at him lowly. "Now Atherin... I'm in a generous mood today..." he snapped, "... I'm willing to let you live if you stopped getting in the way..." he hissed, before turning back to Raven. He wasn't moving anymore, his lungs filling with blood. Rabe smirked and hissed, opening his jaws, moving towards Raven's throat...

Atherin didn't pay any heed to Rabe's 'generosity'. He got back up and, once again took the blow that was meant to end Raven's life. Rabe snarled and tore his fangs from him. He wasn't in the mood for vampire blood today. He roared in his face and pulled him tail spines from Raven's chest, causing him to fall to the ground. "I warned you not to interfere, vampire!" he snarled, whipping his tail around him, sinking the long spines into his side, holding him still...

"Nngg!!" He couldn't take to deep of breathes for two reasons, one was he didn't have much room to do so, and the other was if he were to try he'd end up with spine through his heart, thus killing him. He didn't try to struggle against Rabe, instinctively knowing that it'd most likely kill him.

Rabe smirked, growling deeply. "This is what happens to people who play the hero, vampire..." he hissed, tightening his tail, driving his spines deeper, opening his jaws as he preparing to sink his fangs into Atherin's throat... A short intake of breath was all that Atherin could manage. One of the tale spines had just grazed his heart. His breathing became even shallower and he was unable to do anything to protect himself...

Raven managed to push himself off of the ground, and turn to see what had happened. He nearly died when he saw Rabe about to kill Atherin. He grabbed a rock and scrambled to his feet, throwing it at Rabe as hard as he could. It hit the Organoid in the face, making him snarl in surprise and anger. He snapped his head towards Raven, roaring angrily. "L-leave my friend a-alone!" he shouted, glaring at the Vareix.

Rabe smirked and released Atherin, pulling the long spines from his side. "You want me to leave your 'friend' alone? Fine..." he said, smirking, "... but it'll cost you your life!" he snarled, pouncing on him. Raven managed to catch Rabe's jaws, but the Vareix was still just an inch from his face, his jaws open wide to tear out his throat...

Atherin caught himself from falling to the ground. He knew that if he did then he wouldn't get back up. He had heard what Raven had said, and his clouded eyes cleared up, emotion returning to his eyes. He whipped around to where Rabe and Raven were, and he let out a low, feral, dangerous growl as his eyes turned a vivid crimson He was by their side in an instant, ignoring the fact that his body was screaming at him for such movement. He grabbed Raven and had moved them both away from Rabe, right as Rabe bit down. All he caught was air, he was a little stunned about where they could have gotten to, and how Atherin could still move.

Rabe turned to them and hissed, narrowing his eyes. "My 'hunger' is sated for now... but I'll be back...." he sneered, smirking as he vanished into the shadows... After a few seconds of standing, making sure that Rabe had really gone this time, did Atherin's eyes change back to lavender and he collapsed to the ground, the wound to his heart becoming _very_ hard to ignore.

Raven got to his knees and leaned over him. "Atherin?! Atherin, are you alright?!" he asked, panicked for his friend.

"...My heart.... n-nearly....pierced.... G-Get....Tyme....." Atherin answered as best as he could.

"I don't know where Tyme is, A-Atherin!" Raven said, clearly panicked.

Atherin didn't answer for a minute; his breathing was getting irregular due to his injured heart. He tried to tell Raven something, but he couldn't get what he wanted out. Raven bit his lip. He had an idea, but he wasn't sure if it was wise, in his state. "Aw screw it..." he muttered to himself, taking off his glove, removing the gauze from around his left wrist. He held it out. "Go on... I'll be fine, and I need you up on your feet..." he said, offering him his wrist to 'feed'...

Atherin looked at Raven, confusion evident in his eyes. Wasn't this the reason why their friendship was nearly destroyed? Even if Raven truly meant that he didn't mind...there was a small problem... He couldn't even muster up the strength to sit up, let alone bit down on Raven's wrist. Raven saw the look Atherin gave him. "It's _fine_ Atherin..." he sighed, "I'll be fine, and you really need it..." he told him. He helped him up into a sitting position, before he offered him his wrist again. "C'mon Atherin... I don't want you going and dying on me..."

Atherin was hesitant, but managed to find a small reserve of energy that he could use to bite down. Raven could actually _hear_ how irregular Atherin's heart was beating, and that worried him. Raven cringed slightly but didn't turn away. He didn't want to take his eyes off of him, especially after hearing his unusual heartbeat. The sound of Atherin swallowing made him a little uneasy, but it didn't bother him as much anymore. He just hoped that his blood would give Atherin enough strength to walk.

After a few more swallows did Atherin pull his fangs from Raven's wrist, not knowing that Raven had watched to make sure he was alright, as he usually always closed his eyes when he 'feed'. He had enough strength to walk, but not without some help. Raven helped him to his feet. "C'mon Atherin... let's g-get you... inside..." he said, coughing. He was getting weaker, but he wouldn't let himself go down until Atherin was safe and tended to...

Atherin stood up shakily again, even though Raven had helped him up. Atherin swayed a little before they started to walk back inside Horai. It was a slow walk, Atherin sometimes tripping, as his vision would black out temporarily. Raven helped Atherin inside, having a hard time supporting him. He was bleeding badly, blood staining his shirt from the deep punctures on his chest. He wouldn't be able to make it much farther...

They soon reached Atherin's room, as it was closer than the medical room. Raven sat down on the bed. Atherin was still standing, but swaying a little... His eyes kept flashing crimson and then back to lavender again. Raven looked up at Atherin and saw his eyes changing colors. What color he had drained from his face. "Oh Eve no..." he groaned, knowing what was coming. He got up and shut the door quickly, locking it, not wanting him to get out and hurt someone else.

After Atherin's eyes changed colors a few more times, they settled on a dull mauve… He looked like he wanted to advance on Raven, but his still sane side was preventing him from hurting Raven further. Raven pressed himself against the wall. He didn't try to move anymore, trying not to draw his attention. He was afraid, knowing what Atherin could do to him in a blood lust... Atherin took a step toward Raven before he stopped, and stepped back. There was a war going on in his mind. Raven's heart was racing, unsure if Atherin was going to hurt him or not...

Atherin took another step forward....but instead of taking it back, like he had previously, he took another step forward. He was getting closer to Raven, although it was slow and hesitant. With each step that was taken a war was waged. Raven didn't move, just watching Atherin edge closer. He wasn't about to move, but he wasn't about to call for help. He just hoped Atherin would snap out of it before he got around to 'eating' him like last time...

Atherin had nearly reached Raven before he stopped, his sane side finally having won a battle. He took a step back again, but his blood lust over-ruled it and he took the step forward again. Then another and one more before he was directly in front of Raven. Raven pressed himself back as far as he could, knowing he was about to be attacked. He closed his eyes and turned away, shaking slightly, knowing what was about to happen...

Raven felt Atherin pinning him so he couldn't move from his spot on the wall. But he was a little surprised at how....gentle....this time around was. He could feel Atherin getting closer to his neck, but stopping right before he bit down. It seemed that he wasn't totally 'insane' like last time. Raven opened his eyes for a brief moment, finding it strange how gentle Atherin was being with him this time. He closed his eyes again and allowed his body to relax; knowing that struggling would only make things worse for the both of them...

Atherin hesitated a moment longer before he finally bit down on Raven's neck. It was a much longer hesitation than when he had stalked over to Raven. This told Raven that he was fighting against this action until the end. Raven drew in a sharp breath, feeling Atherin's fangs sinking into his neck. Strangely, it didn't hurt; Atherin was being oddly gentle with him this time. He didn't struggle, not wanting to hurt his friend anymore than he already was. He could feel himself growing slowly weaker as Atherin drank his blood, but he still didn't fight... After Raven heard Atherin swallow a few times he just suddenly stopped and slowly pulled away. Raven couldn't see Atherin as he still had his head turned and Atherin hadn't pulled away that far from him. "....W-Why....didn't you....s-stop me....?" He asked quietly.

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_**Author's Note:**_ Well…at least we found out why Atherin didn't tell Raven about the dangers of his bite. And just when they thought they were finally safe, Rabe shows up and mauls Atherin and Raven. Those two…they can never catch a break… And thanks to Rabe's attack, Atherin goes into a mini blood lust! D: What'll happen next!? And what will Raven do when he realizes that Atherin's snapped out of his blood lust!? You'll just have to wait and find out! Please Review!!


	20. Weakness

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do NOT own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia, and Driacoul do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME.**__ The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if Redai is used without my permission, however, if you use Jurei please make note of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ Here we are at chapter 20!! Last chapter things got a little rough between Atherin and Raven. And we also found out that Horai's outside is accessible to Rabe… Those tow just can't get a break can they?

To iwalkthelight: Sorry that the last chapter confused you. I argued that same point to ShadowRebirth37, but we needed a way to get Raven and Atherin on friendly terms again. We are perfectly aware of the fact that Tyme would have come.

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me. Thanks to those of you that Reviewed!!

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Ͽ Weakness Ͼ

Raven blinked slowly, taking a minute to register that Atherin had regained control and had asked him a question. "I-I... d-didn't w-ant... t-to hurt y-you..." he forced out, extremely weak from blood loss and being 'fed' off of three times. The only thing keeping him on his feet was Atherin...

".....You wouldn't have....hurt me....." Atherin replied as he sensed Raven slowly getting weaker. "......Do....you want my help....? Or....should I just.....take you to the medical room...."

Raven shook his head. "I-I'll b-be... f-ine..." he breathed, not wanting Atherin to use his energy to heal him.

Atherin looked a little skeptical, but as far as he knew Rabe had done more damage to him than to Raven. If he just let him lay down here instead of moving the both of them again it would probably be better for both their healths. He moved back and helped Raven to the bed. "...Then, just lie down here until you can move better...."

Raven closed his eyes and tried to take a deep breath, but yelped at the pain it caused. The punctures from Rabe's spines were proving much more severe than he had originally thought.

Atherin couldn't do much for Raven as he started to wrap up his gashed chest. Raven wouldn't agree to drink his blood he already knew that, and he didn't want for him to use and energy transfer either....though at this rate, Atherin was seriously considering just ignoring what Raven had told him about wanting his help.

Raven's breathing was getting fainter, his lungs filling with blood. His eyes were half closed, extremely weak from losing so much blood... Atherin made his decision. He pulled back the medical tape and exposed the wounds again. Both his palms glowed a soft green as he placed both of them on Raven's chest, starting to seal the wounds and replenish his blood. He wasn't going to let Raven bat his hands away to try and stop him. He may not have the advanced healing abilities that Tyme has, but he could do something so he wouldn't die.

"S-stop... it..." Raven groaned, not wanting Atherin to use his energy to heal his wounds. Atherin shook his head 'no'. He wasn't going to stop. He was bound and determined to heal Raven as best as he could, whether or not Raven liked it.

Raven didn't try and stop him anymore; knowing Atherin wasn't going to listen anyway. Atherin continued to heal Raven. The deep wounds were almost sealed up and he had replenished nearly all the blood that he had lost. He was in much better condition than earlier. Atherin stopped his energy transfer. He looked a little tired from the process, but at least he knew that Raven wouldn't just up and die on him.

Raven groaned and managed to sit up, groaning slightly. He was still sore and tired from everything that had happened. "T-thanks..."

"....D-Don't mention it....." Atherin replied tiredly. His heart was still beating a little irregularly, but it wasn't as bad as it was just a little bit ago.

Raven opened his mouth to say something, when he heard someone trying to open the door. "Joyce? Atherin?" Donnie asked through the door, "Is something wrong? Why's the door locked?"

"....It just _had_ to be your brother...." Atherin groaned. He got up, being able to walk a little better than Raven and made his way to the door. He unlocked it and opened the door so Donnie could come in.

Raven sighed. "Figures... he always knows when I'm in trouble..." he muttered, rolling his eyes. Donnie walked in, but froze upon seeing Raven's condition. He was by the bed in an instant "Joyce!! What happened?!" he asked both Raven and Atherin, clearly panicked and terrified.

Atherin shut the door again, it was just absentminded reflexes. He tried to get back to the bed to sit down, but he was too tired to move from his spot, so he just leaned against the far side of the wall and slid down it. He looked to Raven, considering Rabe was the start of all this and that he was the first attacked.

Raven groaned and leaned back against the wall. "The Vareix that attacked us... followed me and attacked me in the garden. But thankfully Atherin showed up and chased him away before he could kill me. We were both pretty badly hurt, but Atherin managed to heal me..." Raven explained, leaving out certain...'details'. Donnie seemed unconvinced. "But... why is there blood on Atherin's mouth?"

Atherin looked up when he heard his name. He hadn't been able to focus on what Raven was telling Donnie. He tilted his head to the side trying to understand what Donnie was talking about. He looked truly confused about the matter.

Raven thought for a moment, before he thought of an idea. "No... Atherin didn't hurt me; Rabe had hit him pretty hard. He was coughing up blood earlier..."

Atherin finally registered that Raven was making a cover up story for his feeding off him and small blood lust to Donnie. He felt bad about lying to Donnie about it, but...telling him that he had went into a blood lust and had 'attacked' his brother....again....wasn't any better of an option...

Donnie looked at Atherin for a long moment, before he turned back to Raven. "I can tell you're lying, brother..." he sighed, "... so, Atherin attacked you, again?" Raven bit his lip and shot a glance at Atherin, but nodded slowly. No use lying now. "What's done is done...c'mon; let's get you two to the medical room..."

Atherin used the wall to help himself up. He followed after Donnie and Raven, more or less feeling similar to a prisoner about to get the chair. Donnie helped Raven into the medical room, Atherin coming in after them. He shut the door behind him. Raven was still having a little difficulty breathing, his lungs sore from all the recent wounds…

Atherin sat down on one of the chairs in the room. He had managed to get some of the blood from his mouth off him, but he couldn't get all of it off. He waited for either Raven to say something or for Donnie to. Donnie finished wrapping all of Raven's wounds, making sure he didn't have any more internal injuries. He was a little nervous around Atherin, but he didn't feel all that threatened by him.

Atherin stayed silent. He had already felt horrible for the first time he had attacked Raven, and now that he had attacked him again, he felt even worse. Raven looked over and saw Atherin. He threw his pillow at him, hitting him in the face. "Lighten up Dracula..."

"I would if my heart wasn't still hurting me so much...." Atherin replied as he kept the pillow for himself, placing it behind his head so he wouldn't have to lean against the hard wall.

Raven narrowed his eyes. "Give me that back!" he said, having thrown his only pillow at him. Donnie turned to Atherin. "Do you want me to go get Tyme? I don't know what to do about your heart..."

"...If you don't mind looking for him..." Atherin said to Donnie; and to Raven; "I don't think so."

Donnie nodded and walked outside to look for Tyme. Raven sighed and leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms and glaring at Atherin. "You only have yourself to blame." Atherin said as his eyes closed.

Tyme was looking around Horai, almost panicking at the fact that neither he nor Karl could find Atherin. Karl said he had disappeared when he walked out into the garden. That worried Tyme as he could smell blood coming from there. He had searched the entire garden, just missing Raven and Atherin going back into Horai. He walked back into Horai and nearly ran into Donnie. "Sorry Donnie. I didn't see you there."

"Same here... I wasn't paying attention..." Donnie said, "I need you in the medical room. Atherin and Raven are both injured and I don't know how to treat some of their wounds..."

"He's back in the medical room?" Tyme asked as he followed Donnie.

Donnie nodded. "Joyce said he and Atherin were attacked in the garden, and it looked like Atherin might have attacked him too..."

"...It would explain why the garden reeks of blood... And...you think Atherin may have attacked Raven as well?"

Donnie nodded. "When I found Joyce and Atherin, there was blood on Atherin's mouth and Joyce had puncture wounds on his neck..."

"....I'll talk to him about it... But it'll be after their wounds are looked at..." Tyme replied as they reached the medical room's door and opened it. Donnie nodded and walked in after him. He wanted to get his brother and Atherin healed and soon...

Tyme looked between the two. Raven was glaring at Atherin as Atherin still refused to give his pillow back, and Atherin was doing his best to keep from chucking or laughing at the fact that Raven couldn't get out of bed to get it back. "Alright, which one of you needs me to look at their wounds first?" Both Raven and Atherin pointed to the other at the same time. Tyme sighed. "You two aren't going to make this easy are you?"

"Atherin needs it more... one of Rabe's spines injured his heart..." Raven said.

Tyme paled a little, but nodded and went to check on Atherin's wounds first. He knelt down in front of him and entered his 'healer mode'. The first area he targeted was Atherin's heart. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, but it was still enough to hinder him greatly. He healed it, along with his other wounds before he spoke to him. "You won't be doing anything strenuous for a few days... It could rip the wound on your heart more..." Atherin nodded. "I know... I'll be careful." Tyme then turned to Raven. "Alright...it's your turn."

Raven rolled his eyes. "Joy..."

Tyme walked over to Raven. He once again entered his 'healer mode' and took a look at his internal injuries. "You really like to injure your lungs don't you?" He asked as he saw the new tear in Raven's once good lung. He then examined the punctures wounds. One set definitely didn't belong to Atherin, but the other two did. The one on his wrist was consented, but the one on his neck wasn't. It looked like Atherin really did attack Raven. He'd have to get the whole story out of them after Donnie left. After his examinations were done he healed the punctures and did his best to heal the new tear on his lung. "You need to take it easy as well. If I see you in here again for another lung wound I just might have to hurt you..." Tyme said as he finished.

Raven nodded. "I won't... promise..." he said. He didn't feel like getting attacked... again, especially by Tyme. Donnie, who had been watching, opened the door. "I'm going to go find Karl and tell him Atherin is alright. Tyme, please keep an eye on them 'til I get back..." he said, walking out and shutting the door.

As soon as Donnie was out of earshot Tyme rounded on both Atherin and Raven. "Alright you two, out with it."

Raven looked at Atherin. "You wanna tell him or do I have to?" he said.

"....I remember...bits and pieces....but there are some things that I don't remember....."

"Why don't you start? I was panicked, so a few parts are a little fuzzy..." Raven said.

"...Well...I remember you closing and locking the door....and then it fragments from there...but...I was aware enough to know that I was in an in between state.... I do remember that before each action...I'd try to stop myself or try to snap out of it...and when my sane side lost, my memory would black out..." Raven picked up after Atherin stopped as Atherin couldn't really remember what happened next.

"I could tell he had some control, because he wasn't as violent as the first time. He didn't grab me and slam me into the wall, like Rabe did and he did the first time; he just sorta... pinned me. It didn't hurt; I mean I could tell he had some control and was trying to stop..."

Tyme was silent for a moment, and it un-nerved both teens a little. Tyme sighed. "Raven...you truly are a magnet for him to bite you, had you of just told him to stop he'd have snapped out of it instantly... And Atherin...you're extremely lucky to have such forgiving friends."

Raven blinked. "Had I known that I would have... the first time I did that and told him to stop it didn't do anything. And again, it didn't hurt..."

"...The first time he was in a full blood lust, you were lucky he even registered the fact that you were speaking to him. I still would have thought that when you saw that he was struggling to regain himself you'd have tried....."

"I was scared; I wasn't thinking straight..." Raven said quietly.

"...Alright...I'll get off your case. I guess I can understand where you're coming from...." Tyme replied. "Atherin, kd'ss ihst shidz." (We'll talk later.) Atherin nodded. "...Now that that's settled, let's 'try' to stay out of trouble okay...?"

Karl knocked on the door and walked in, Donnie behind him. "So... let me get this straight... Atherin tried to 'eat' Raven... again?"

Tyme, Atherin and Raven glared at Karl. Donnie didn't know that Atherin had tried to 'eat' Raven! He only knew that he was attacked...and that Van was the cause of it... It looked like Atherin just fell through the already thin ice he was on.

Karl realized what he had said. "Damnit..." he cursed. Donnie was pale as a ghost. "A-Atherin... y-you tried to 'eat' m-my brother!!"

"....It's...not like I had any control...over my actions...." Atherin answered quietly. Tyme was getting nervous, he knew that any trust that Donnie had for Atherin, let alone for him, was shattered.

"B-but... you n-nearly killed my brother!" Donnie shouted, clearly scared and panicked...

Atherin remained silent. He couldn't deny the fact that he really did nearly kill Raven...his best friend and 'honorary' brother of sorts... Neither he nor Tyme knew what to say as they feared that if they were to speak it'd only upset Donnie more...as they were...vampires... At the moment it didn't look like Donnie wanted anything more to do with them...

Raven looked over at Atherin. He didn't know what to do either. Donnie was panicked, and he wasn't sure of what to say. Atherin gathered his courage to try and say something to Donnie. It was a little hard when Donnie was yelling back at him when ever he spoke. "...It....was an accident.... And if I could take it back I would...in a heartbeat..."

"An 'accident'?! How do you 'accidently' eat someone?!"

"I never wanted to go into a blood lust! I was shocked into it! Why can't you understand that I never wanted to hurt him!?"

Raven was getting fed up. "Donnie for the love of Eve! It wasn't his fault!" he defended. Donnie turned to look at him. "But Joyce, he nearly _ate_ you, _twice_!!!"

Tyme went to Atherin, not being seen by Donnie as he used his speed to reach him with drawing attention to them. {Atherin...just calm down... All that should matter to you is that Raven doesn't blame you for what happened...} /....I...I know.... I shouldn't have...gotten so defensive.../

"Donnie! Just stop, okay?! So Atherin hurt me! I'm fine now, so stop making such a big deal!!" Raven said, clearly upset. Donnie finally relented. "Okay, fine..." he said, turning and leaving. Raven looked over at Atherin. "Sorry... about that..."

"....You don't need to apologize.... He has a right to be upset with me..." Atherin answered, sounding almost exactly like how Tyme spoke.

"He was just upset that I got hurt... I'm the only family he has left..." Raven said quietly...

"....I know....that's why he has a right to be angry with me." "Alright you two, enough with the pity party. You two are on good graces so go back to insulting each other until we have to go look for this Rabe's weakness."

Raven looked over at Atherin. He smirked and threw another pillow at him. "Cheer up Dracula... Donnie will get over it..."

Atherin kept this pillow too, smirking as he used it as a foot rest, after having taken off his shoes. "I'm gonna leave you two...just...try not kill each other alright?" Tyme said as he got up and left.

"That'll be a little difficult..." Raven growled, glaring death at Atherin.

"I would have thought that you'd learn after throwing your first pillow at me..." Atherin smirked.

"Shut up Dracula..." Raven rolled his eyes, "Just give it back..."

"...So you can throw it at me again?" Atherin asked, mischief returning to his eyes.

"..... Damn you..." Raven muttered, glaring at him.

"Oh please. You're so easy to read." Atherin said when his sensitive ears caught what Raven had said.

".... Bite me...." Raven grumbled, leaning back against the wall, crossing his arms.

"Gladly." Atherin answered from right beside him. Before Raven could say something to him about joking, he received a face full of pillow.

Raven shoved Atherin and threw the pillow at him. "There, bite that, Dracula!"

Atherin caught himself from falling over and the pillow that Raven had thrown at him again. "...But there's nothing _in_ it...." Atherin mocked pouted, once again nullifying Raven's jab at him.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Deal with it Dracula..."

Atherin mock glared at Raven before throwing the pillow back at him, once again hitting him square in the face. "You shouldn't tell me to 'bite you' if you don't mean it.... One day...I might just snap...." Atherin smirked, seeing the momentarily stunned expression on Raven's face.

Raven looked at him and smirked. "_Might_ snap? You already have! Twice!"

"I meant when still being aware of _all_ my actions... As in...I'm still 'normal'."

Raven smirked. "You wouldn't..."

"...Oh yes, I would. When you tell me to 'bite you' you're basically giving me permission to. The only reason why I haven't yet is because the first time you were still recovering from Rabe's first attack. And this time, I didn't want Donnie walking in on it." Atherin smirked.

"Donnie isn't anywhere near here..." Raven said, smirking, "... he won't bother us for awhile, after the 'discussion'..."

"See? You just sent me another 'invitation'." Atherin said, giving Raven a fanged smile, before he vanished briefly and reappeared by Raven's left side. Raven jumped when he did that. He glared at him. "I hate it when you do that!" he snapped, glaring at him.

Atherin chuckled, having scared Raven again. "What are you? A scaredy Liger?" Atherin taunted. Raven was on his feet in an instant. Raven turned and glared at Atherin. "Bite me, Dracula..." he shot back, not liking being made fun of.

"If you insist." Atherin said as he pinned Raven to the wall and bit down on his neck. Raven's eyes went wide, caught completely off guard. Atherin had bitten him! His heart skipped a beat, completely stunned that Atherin had _actually_ bitten him! Atherin pulled away after a few seconds. Not wanting to panic Raven. He wiped the blood from his mouth, waiting to see what Raven's reaction would be.

Raven stared at him. "Furher, Atherin! You _bit_ me!"

"Well you offered." Atherin replied.

"I was joking!" Raven shot back, grabbing at his neck. Atherin pulled Raven's hand from his neck, remember what his brother had said.... "And you thought that I wouldn't if you told me to 'bite you'." Atherin replied as he healed the puncture wounds.

Raven rolled his eyes. "It's called being sarcastic, Dracula..."

"Perhaps....but now you know that I will bite you if you tell me too... I see it as an 'invitation'..." Atherin said, finishing healing Raven.

"Yeah, yeah..." Raven rolled his eyes again, "You vampires can't take a joke..."

"Not all the time." Atherin chuckled as he pushed Raven back down onto the bed. They _were_ supposed to be 'taking it easy'.

Raven swatted his hand away. "I'll be fine... _you're_ the one that needs to be taking it easy..."

"...Then stop tempting me so much..." Atherin said.

"I don't mean too..." Raven said, smirking...

"Sure you don't...." Atherin said skeptically as he sat down on a nearby chair. Perhaps he shouldn't have moved so fast...his heart was starting to beat irregularly a little. A couple of minutes passed before one of them spoke up again.

Raven stood up. "Do you want to go to the library?"

"It beats just sitting here, insulting each other, when we could be getting some work done..." Atherin replied as he stood up as well, although a little more slowly than he had before.

Raven and Atherin walked out of the medical room, Raven leading the way. Atherin followed after Raven. He could sense Tyme in his room, resting from not only the stress from earlier but also because of the mid day heat. He was a little fatigued from it as well, but he figured that it would be much cooler in the library.

Raven pushed over the door to the library. "Okay... you'll probably have better luck than me... I don't really go in libraries much..."

"...Just look for anything that has the word 'Organoid' on it." Atherin said as he started to stroll through the rows.

"That'd be a lot easier... if the books were in English..." he muttered, unable to read many of them since they were in a strange language.

Atherin came over to where Raven was. He took one look at the books he was muttering angrily at and smiled. "Thanks Raven... You just saved me a whole lot of trouble looking for this section..." Atherin said as he started to pull some books down.

Raven looked over at him. "Uhh... you're welcome..."

After seeing Raven's confused look Atherin explained. "These are vampire texts on Organoids... I'm pulling out stories and research books... Then we can go look for human texts..."

"Oh... that makes much more sense..." Raven said.

After pulling a few more books down did Atherin and Raven set the books on one of the tables. "Now...there _has_ to be human texts on them..." Atherin said as he started to go through the rows again.

Raven followed him, looking at the hundreds of books that lined the shelves... After looking around the rows for about twenty minutes did they find anything concerning Organoids, Raven stopped Atherin before he passed the section. ".....Your turn to pull books off..." Atherin said.

Raven looked and found three books on Organoids in English. He pulled them off. "Are these enough?" "Sure? If you think that those are enough..." Atherin answered.

"Well... these are all I could find..."

"Then they're enough... Let's get started on reading them then..." Atherin replied, relieved that he didn't have to look for more books in this section. Raven carried the books back to the table and sat them down.

Atherin sat down at the table and pulled the closest book to him and opened it. He searched the index and found a small section on Vareix. He turned the page and read. It didn't yield anything even slightly useful. He put it to the side and tried the next one...

Raven looked through his books, finding one with a large section on Vareix. There were lots of pictures, including the same legend that had been in the book in the library. Along with a picture. "Atherin, look at this..." he said, pointing to the picture of the large silver and red Organoid."I'd hate to run into him..."

"That's the organoid from the legend...." Atherin said, instantly recognizing the organoid from the description in the vampire text they had read in Porto. "...Yeah....I wouldn't want to run into him... Rabe's enough to deal with...."

Raven nodded. "He looks even worse than Rabe... if that's possible..."

Atherin nodded and went back to looking though his books. After dismissing the next one and reading the next did he find something interesting. From where Raven was sitting it almost looked like Atherin had question marks above his head.

Raven looked over, seeing Atherin's expression. "What's wrong?"

"....There's a picture in here that shows a vampire slaying a Vareix with.....the 'Demonsbane'....."

Raven looked at Atherin. "What's a 'Demonsbane'?"

"...It's....a sword....a....silver....sword...."

Raven sighed. "It's probably just a legend..."

"...No.... The 'Demonsbane'....exists.... Unfortunately...." Atherin added in an undertone.

Raven stared at Atherin oddly. "What do you mean 'unfortunately'? We could use it to kill Rabe..."

"........It's...just that....the 'Demonsbane'....is also used....to kill vampires.....as it's....made out of......silver......."

"Kill vampires?" Raven asked, "And I thought silver only worked in legends on werewolves and stuff like that...."

"...Where...wolves....? What are....'Where...wolves'...?"

Raven stared at him. "Are you serious... you don't know what a werewolf is?!"

"...Should I...?" Atherin asked, starting panic, thinking that it was something important that he had missed while trying to learn the human's culture.

Raven shook his head. "No, it's alright. Werewolves are just a legend, like I thought vampires were..."

Atherin nodded, glad that it wasn't anything important. His thoughts then trailed back to the 'Demonsbane'...such an awful sword to have been crafted...

"So... what's this sword thing do?"

"....On...us or Vareix?"

"Vareix..."

"....It says that....the 'Demonsbane' congeals the Organoid's blood so it stops pumping and they basically die from suffocating..... And if the blade pierces their core then they die automatically... However...killing a Vareix while in its Organoid form is extremely difficult...it'd be easier to kill him...in his vampire form..."

Raven looked at Atherin. "We found a way to kill Rabe... all we need is silver..."

"....I know....where the....'Demonsbane' is....located...." Atherin said quietly.

"Why do you seem so scared of this thing?" Raven said.

"...Because I _am_ scared of it.... It's....the thing that could kill me instantly..."

"Kill _you_ instantly? I thought it killed Vareix..."

Atherin shook his head 'no'. "Humans created the 'Demonsbane' to kill vampires... I guess somewhere along the way a vampire managed to get a hold of one to try and find a way to defend ourselves from it, but instead found that Vareix are also killed by it...."

"Well... it sounds like we could use it to kill Rabe..." Raven said, looking at the book.

"...Yeah..." Atherin answered quietly. He wasn't too keen on the idea of having the 'Demonsbane' anywhere _near_ him.

Raven looked at Atherin. "I can tell this thing bugs you, so if you want, we don't have to use it..."

"...No...I'll be alright.... We know that silver kills them...it just so happens that silver kills us as well...so...either way....we'll still need something silver...."

Raven nodded. "Now... where do we find this thing?"

"....It's....it's...in the Republic..... In the museum...."

"The Republic? Great..." Raven sighed and leaned back in his seat, not at all pleased.

"......" Atherin remained silent. Talk of that blasted sword wasn't something he savored. He knew where it was located....but he wasn't about to waltz into the Republic's capital to go get it. Raven looked at Atherin. "We could always send Ibeyla to get it. She's welcomed in the Republic..."

"...I think that'd be best...as I can assure you that neither Tyme nor myself would willingly go and retrieve it....though....if need be....I guess we could wield it... It might be too heavy for you..."

Raven nodded. "And besides, you stand a much better chance against Rabe. I was down after one blow..."

"....Well...I'm not gonna argue there...but even for us it'd be hard to get the sword through his metal armor...but...we'll worry about that later.... We should tell the others what we found...." Raven nodded, standing up. Atherin stood up as well and followed Raven out of the library as he seemed to know his way around Horai better than he did.

Raven walked to the main room, and saw Karl and Ibeyla on the couch. "Ibeyla, where the Helkat have you been all morning?" he asked, crossing his arms. She looked up at him. "I was practicing my archery, why?" she said, blinking her eyes. Raven sighed. "Never mind..." he groaned, "Atherin has some good news..."

"....We've found...the Vareix weakness...." Atherin said...sounding a little unenthused.

Ibeyla and Karl stared at him. "Are you serious?" Ibeyla asked.

Atherin nodded his head. "....I....I also know.....where we can find it......"

Ibeyla blinked again. "Well... where is it?"

"It's called…the 'Demonsbane' ...It's in...New Helic City....in the....museum...."

"I can go get it, if you want..."

"...That would be great...." Atherin answered, relieved that he didn't have to go and get it himself. Ibeyla nodded and got up. "I'll go get it now, in case Rabe shows up again..." she said, leaving the room...

Atherin still wasn't very enthused about this development. "...I think...I'm gonna go find Tyme...he needs to know this as well..." Raven nodded and sat down, letting Atherin do what he wanted.

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_**Author's Note:**_ ^^ At least now they know how to kill Rabe!! But it's a double edged sword as it could also kill Atherin and Tyme! D: Other than that there wasn't too much that happened…other than Atherin and Raven getting on each other's nerves. XP What'll happen in the next chapter? You'll just have to wait and see! Please Review!!


	21. Captured

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do NOT own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul and Rika do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME**__. The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if Redai is used without my permission, however, if you use Jurei please make note of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ Here we are! Chapter 21! Last time Atherin and Raven found Rabe's weakness!! But…it comes as a double edged sword as it's also Atherin and Tyme's weakness too! D: What'll happen now that they know about it? You'll just have to read and find out!!

This is a collaborated fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me. Thanks to those of you that Reviewed!!

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Ͽ Captured Ͼ

Atherin left the main room and wandered around looking for Tyme. He checked his room first as that was where he last sensed him napping. He wasn't there...so he decided to check the garden next; just to see if he was there looking over the battle scene or just enjoying the breeze. However...before he could get to the garden someone ran into him.

Donnie looked up, and saw he had ran into Atherin. "Oh... hi, Atherin..." Atherin was sure that Donnie was still upset with him for what had happened earlier...after all his twin brother had sided with him. "....Hello Donnie...." He replied, not sure on how he would react. "What're you up to?" Donnie asked, looking at him. He was still nervous around him, but if Raven trusted him, he'd give him a chance...

"...I'm trying to find Tyme...as I need to tell him something important... We've found the Vareix weakness...but...he's not gonna be thrilled about it... I'm not thrilled about it..."

"A weakness? What is it?" Donnie asked, wanting to know.

"....It's...silver.... And.....the thing that would...aid us greatly is the 'Demonsbane'..."

Donnie looked at him oddly. "Silver? What good would that do? I thought it only worked against werewolves in stories...?"

"....Silver....congeals their blood.... And...if able to pierce their 'core' then they'll die...." Atherin tried to explain, remembering that what silver did to vampires was also done to Vareix... Donnie blinked. "Strange... I never would have thought silver would have such an effect on them..."

"...Neither did I....but....its better than them not having any weakness at all...." Atherin said quietly. He was still extremely nervous of the 'Demonsbane' as it has slain many a vampire and he didn't want to add two more to that list. Donnie nodded in agreement. "I'm glad they just have a weakness..."

"...Same here....though.....never mind.... I've gotta go find that brother of mine...." Atherin said as he started off on his way again. Atherin continued looking for Tyme, he reached the garden and started to walk around. After searching for ten minutes he finally located him. "...Tyme....we need to talk 'bout something important..." Tyme turned to look at Atherin; he could tell just by the tone of his voice that there was something bothering him. "What is it? Has something bad happened?" "...Well...yes and no...

We've found the Vareix weakness....but....it's the same as ours.... And....Ibeyla just left to go get 'It'...as it's the best thing to combat against them...." Tyme paled considerably when he heard that he'd be coming into contact with the 'Demonsbane'. "....Thanks for letting me know.... But....we'll be the ones wielding it...won't we...?" "Most likely...." Atherin answered quietly... Neither of them was too thrilled about this development.

Raven got up from where he was sitting. He was bored. He walked out into the garden, and saw Tyme and Atherin. He walked over to them. "Hey guys..." he stopped when he saw how tense they looked. "What's wrong?"

"....We're....just nervous....about the 'Demonsbane'.... We're not exactly to...thrilled...about it being anywhere near us...let alone most likely having to wield it..." Atherin answered. Neither of them could help but be tense about the sword. Raven blinked. "Sorry, but you two are the only ones that stand a chance getting close to Rabe..."

"...We know...but it still doesn't mean that we're thrilled about it..." Tyme replied. He had seen the 'battle field' where Rabe had attacked them, and he could tell that only he and Atherin were capable of getting close enough to use 'It'. Raven nodded. "Sorry you guys have to do it..."

"...It's not your fault.... And...it's something that has to be done..." Atherin replied, subconsciously putting his hand where one of Rabe's spines had nearly pierced his heart. Raven sighed. "I'm sorry you got hurt, it was my own damned fault..."

"...Lets not go down this path. We'll end up repeating saying 'sorry' for a few minutes." Atherin chuckled. It was true, they were always going back and forward with saying they were sorry. Raven smirked. "Yeah, that'll get old real quick..."

"...Well...now what're we suppose to do? It's not like we can leave Horai 'til Ibeyla gets back.... And I neither of us are allowed to do anything much thanks to Rabe..." Atherin pondered. He hated just sitting around doing nothing. He tended to get bored...and a bored vampire isn't a good thing to have...

Raven looked at Atherin. He could tell he was getting bored from having nothing to do. He had a distinct feeling that a bored vampire was something he didn't want to deal with. Atherin noticed that Raven was watching him, as if he would just suddenly go raving mad....which he was pretty close to doing... He was getting bored being cooped up on Horai with nothing to entertain him. Perhaps he'd play around with this... Atherin narrowed his eyes at Raven and flashed a fanged smirk; he'd keep himself entertained...even if he had to use his best friend to do so...

Raven blinked. "Atherin? Are you... alright?" he asked, more than a little concerned with his safety at the moment... Tyme took notice and chuckled. "Sorry Raven, but a bored vampire isn't a good thing to have. You've somehow or other just made yourself his entertainment... I'd...try to talk him into doing something else...."

Raven looked over at Tyme. "Talk him into doing something? Like what?" "...I don't know. He's your problem now." Tyme replied. He would suggest some sparring practice but he didn't want either boy to get hurt, as he knew that Atherin would tone down his abilities to be even with Raven. Raven looked over at Tyme. "You aren't helping, Tyme..."

"Sorry, but...I really don't know what to tell you. Just consider yourself lucky that he hasn't....gotten to my stage of 'fun'." Raven blinked. "I'm not even gonna ask..."

"Good choice. I don't think you could stomach it." Tyme replied, holding in his laughter at Raven's face. Through out their conversation, Atherin had snuck off, unbeknownst to Raven. "I probably wouldn't..." Raven said, failing to notice Atherin's absence...

Tyme was keeping Raven occupied while Atherin was getting ready to scare Raven. He was sneaking up behind him, waiting for Tyme to tell him when to strike. Raven turned to look where Atherin had been standing. He wasn't there. "Hey... where'd Atherin go?"

"I don't know. I wasn't watching him..." Tyme answered. He didn't need to give any signals to Atherin, considering they could talk mind to mind. Before Raven could turn around to find him, Atherin poked him in the sides, making Raven jump about three feet into the air.

Raven spun around. "Atherin! Damnit! Don't do that!"

Atherin moved out of Raven's swing zone, laughing at Raven's reaction. Tyme was laughing as well, having been apart of it. Raven looked between the two of them, gritting his teeth. "Damn the both of you..." Atherin and Tyme were still chuckling at Raven. They had managed to keep themselves entertained while also forgetting about the 'Demonsbane' that they'd soon be in contact with. Raven glared at the two of them. "Shut up you two..."

"S-Sorry Raven, you just happened to gain two bored vampires' attention..." Tyme replied, as he calmed down. Atherin had calmed down as well, but for fear of being punched stayed away from Raven. Raven rolled his eyes. "Lucky me..."

Tyme chuckled again. Atherin braved going near Raven again. "It's not like I hurt you." Atherin said. Raven glared at him. "Doesn't matter..." "Oh lighten up. It was a harmless joke." Atherin replied, ignoring Raven's glare. Raven punched him in the arm, "I said shut it, Dracula..." he growled. Atherin rubbed his arm where Raven had punched him. "That hurt." Atherin mock pouted. Raven rolled his eyes. "You're such a baby..."

"At least I'm not a scaredy Liger like you are." Atherin smirked, knowing that he was, once again, getting under Raven's skin. Raven rolled his eyes. "No, you're a scaredy Liger..." "How am I a scaredy Liger? And if you say its cause I'm afraid of the 'Demonsbane' then that's not fair..." "Damn..." Raven muttered.

"Well, you'd be afraid of it too if you knew what it could do to you...." Atherin said quietly. By this time, Tyme had left them to get out of the sun again. He wasn't as use to it as Atherin was. Raven sighed. "Well I'm _not_ a vampire, last time I check.. Unless you pulled a sick joke last time you bit me and turned me into one..." he shot back.

Atherin just gave him a confused and slightly hurt look. "...Turn you...into one...?" Raven stared at him. "You aren't serious..." he said, "You don't know about humans' superstitions of vampires?"

"....No.... I...can't...really read human texts.... So....what I learned was from listening in....and....watching.... And....the only 'superstition' that I over heard were about...'monsters under the bed and in closets'...." Atherin answered honestly. After all...he's only been living in the human world for five years....

"Oh...." Raven muttered, "Well...in human stories about vampires, vampires could turn a human into a vampire by biting and 'turning' them. That's why I threw such a fit when you made me drink your blood, which was a way vampires 'turned' people into vampires..."

".......You humans....come up with the strangest ideas and conceptions...." Atherin replied in a tone that said he was amused but at the same time still not understanding what Raven was telling him. The notion of 'turning' was absurd to him and down right nonsense. Raven rolled his eyes again. "Hey, don't blame me; I didn't come up with it..."

"I know that, but...you still believed it... You humans are always trying to find ways to explain something that you don't understand..." Raven groaned. "How was I supposed to know it wasn't true!? Up until a couple weeks ago, I didn't even know vampires were real..."

"....Well...that's understandable as we try to make sure humans don't discover us... But thanks to Rabe....it's becoming a common topic to talk about...." Raven nodded. "Damn that Organoid to hell..."

"......Hopefully....after we get rid of him things'll settle back down...." Raven sighed. "I have a nagging feeling things won't be that simple..." he said quietly. "....When are things _ever_ simple for us...?" Raven laughed. "True... but it doesn't hurt to hope we'll catch a break...."

"...I know...but I don't like to get my hopes up when I know that there's a better chance that hell will freeze over...." Raven sighed. "Yeah... but a 'little' optimism wouldn't kill you…" "....Are you sure about that?" Atherin joked.

"Bi-" Raven stopped himself before he finished his sentence, "Shut it, Dracula..." "What was that? I couldn't hear you." Atherin replied, smirking. Raven punched him in the arm again. "I was going to say 'bite me', but I don't feel like having those fangs of yours in me again, so I stopped myself." Atherin chuckled. "I still got you to say it. But...as you don't want me to, I won't."

"Good.... I don't feel like explaining why you had your fangs in my neck to my brother if he sees..." ".....Yeah....I don't want to explain that either..." Atherin said nervously. As saw it he was still on extremely thin ice with Donnie. He had managed to pull himself back up onto the ice after the first time he had fallen in.

"At least he hasn't kicked you off yet. He trusts you at least a little bit..." Atherin sighed; "....But I was hoping to be better friends with him.... I guess that'll never happen now....considering I've 'eaten' you....twice...." Raven smirked. "That does make it a little difficult for him to fully trust you..." "....I know.... I would think that my saving you countless times would null and void those two accidents..."

"Yeah... but the fact that you tried to 'eat' me scared him a lot more than if you had merely tried to kill me..." ".....Haven't we already _had_ this conversation? I feel like I'm repeating myself..."

"I know..." Raven said, rolling his eyes slightly, "Just don't try and 'eat' me again... I don't think Donnie, or I for that matter, could take it..." ".....It's not like I ever wanted to in the first place...." Atherin replied quietly. The look on his face told Raven that he was considering something....but he couldn't tell what.

Raven saw Atherin's expression. "Atherin... you better not be scheming to scare me witless again...." he warned, narrowing his eyes. "....I'm not...." Atherin answered, in an almost automatic tone.

"Than _what_, exactly, are you thinking about?" Raven asked, raising an eyebrow. He was curious, and a little worried, about what the vampire could be pondering. ".....Finding you a.....silver dagger..... Just incase something were to happen again...."

"Oh... well that makes sense, since _everything_ seems to happen to me..." Raven said back. "....I.....wasn't referring to Rabe attacking you again..... I....meant....for protection against me....if I were to 'attack' you again....." Atherin answered quietly, eyes downcast. Raven blinked and stared at him in shock. "W-what?! You want me to use silver on you?!"

".....If I lose control of myself again, then yes.... I don't think I could take hurting you again either...." Raven stared at him in shock. "Atherin... I won't use silver on you..."

"....But...I don't want you to be without something....should I enter a blood lust again....as....I do seem to target you....for some reason or other...." "I still won't use it on you, Atherin..."

".....Even if it's a matter of life and death for you? Would still refuse to use it?" "Atherin, I refuse to use silver on you..."

"...I don't know if I should be glad to hear that or even more fearful of the fact that I could kill you if you don't have it..."

"Think what you want, I'm still not going to use silver on you..."

"........" Atherin was silent. He had never known for a human to refuse protection against a creature like him. Not in any of the books or stories he had heard. "What's wrong Atherin?" Raven asked, seeing his expression.

".....I'm....torn when you say that.... I'm glad that you're refusing to use it but....I'm also worried that....the next time I go into a blood lust....will be the last time for one of us...." Raven blinked and looked at him oddly. "Again, I'm not using silver on you! And I won't let you kill me..."

Atherin looked a little skeptical but decided to drop the subject. He'd begin to repeat himself and why he wanted Raven to carry a silver dagger on him. Raven thought for a moment. "Although... having a silver weapon would be good incase Rabe appears again..."

Atherin nodded. That would be good....if he were to use it against him while Rabe was in his 'vampire' form. It'd be useless against him as an organoid... "But... where do we get a silver weapon?" Raven said, "I know Ibeyla already has a silver dagger, but it was a gift from her father..."

"....You...could probably find one in a bazaar somewhere...." Atherin answered. Raven nodded. "That makes sense..."

"....Just....don't throw it away after we defeat him.... We could run into more Vareix that we don't know about... For a species that's supposed to be extinct we sure do seem to run into a lot of them...." Raven scoffed. "I won't throw it away..."

Atherin nodded, just the fact that Raven would have a silver dagger made a little bit at ease. It was protection, against Vareix and him...if need be. "We can look around the market of the closest town tomorrow..." Raven said.

"Yeah, at least then we'll be able to _do_ something...instead of just being stuck here doing nothing but driving each other up the walls." Raven smirked. "Yeah... and I'm the one that always get the worst of it..."

"...Well...who else is there for me to tease? Tyme will just turn it back on me, I respect Karl too much to do anything to him, I don't want to play tricks on Ibeyla, and Donnie is a little terrified of me." Raven sighed. "Why me?" he muttered to himself.

"Because you're basically the only willing party that doesn't get too angry at me when I scare you." Raven glared. "Maybe I should start getting angry..." he muttered to himself. Atherin smirked. "You can't stay mad at me for more than a few minutes. And you know it too."

Raven glared. "Bite m- shut up Dracula..." Atherin's smirk widened a little, knowing that Raven would always have to catch himself from saying the dreaded phrase... Raven glared at him. "You might think that's funny, but I'm the one getting bitten every damn day..."

"I told you. You're a magnet. But if you want me to be serious about it then fine. I won't bite you any more. I'll just find someone else."

"No..." Raven said immediately, "I just wish I knew _why_ you and your kind are so inclined to bite me..."

"....I thought I told you already...." Atherin mused to himself. Perhaps Raven thought he had been joking about it.... Raven looked at him. "I... don't remember you telling me..." he said, honestly not remembering.

"...Well....I wasn't kidding when I told you that your blood is really sweet.... ....It's actually....nearly down right intoxicating...." Raven blinked. "Lucky me..." he groaned, rolling his eyes.

"Well...I'm just sayin'...." Atherin answered quietly. He had no idea why Raven's blood was so sweet, but if it was any other vampire; he'd be drained in a heart beat. "Just don't get any ideas, Dracula..." Raven shot back.

"...If I had any ideas about it, you wouldn't be standing." Atherin shot back. He was a little angry that Raven would accuse him of such a thing. Raven shrugged. "True..."

Atherin just shot Raven a glare. He's been extremely careful to make _sure_ he didn't take too much from him, as well as making sure he didn't hurt him. He couldn't count how many times he had been tempted to just keep drinking, or bite whenever Raven got hurt or was too weak to defend himself. It was in a vampire's nature to do that, and he was fighting that instinct every time. Raven saw his expression. "What's eating you, Dracula?"

"....... Just.....don't worry about it..... I'm.....only thinking about something....." Raven narrowed his eyes slightly. "Must be something important, judging by the look on your face..."

He couldn't say it doesn't concern you because, quite frankly, it did. "...Just...drop it..." Atherin nearly growled out. His tone was low enough to make Raven shudder a little. Raven blinked and shifted nervously. "Atherin... are you alright?"

"....I'm fine.... Just....fine...." Raven could see now that Atherin was trying to calm down. But what in the world had made him so testy in the first place? Was it something he said? "Seriously Atherin... what's wrong?" Raven asked. He knew something was up.

"If I told you, you'd end up distancing yourself from me... I know _I_ would if I was in your....'socks'?" He wasn't too sure about that being the right phrase, but he knew that he was close enough to get his point across.

Raven stared at him. "You mean in my... shoes, right?" he corrected, "And I won't, the only reason I did the first time was because I wasn't thinking straight..."

"....Socks, shoes....its close enough...." Atherin replied. "Then....you want to know what I'm thinking about....? It...concerns you...." "Go ahead... if it concerns me, I'd like to know..." Raven said, crossing his arms and leaning back against the tree behind him.

"...Well.....it's not in a vampire's....nature to really just stop drinking....even with the mineral it's still a little hard....and...too not bite when we sense that....someone's bleeding or to weak to defend themselves.... And...coupled with your blood...it's a hundred times worse...." Atherin replied, hoping that Raven would get his underlying message so then he wouldn't have to voice the fact that if they weren't on good terms he'd be tempted drain Raven dry.

Raven blinked and stared at Atherin. He hadn't realized how much danger he had been in. He lowered his gaze, thinking... Atherin grew uneasy when Raven lowered his gaze from him. It meant that he was seriously considering something. He was afraid that Raven was reconsidering his previous remark about not distancing himself. Raven didn't lift his gaze. He was deep in thought. He hadn't realized how 'dangerous' Atherin was to him. It scared him a little...

Atherin was now starting to get even more worried by the fact that Raven still hadn't said anything to him. He had half a mind to just start backing away, fearing that he had just ruined their friendship, but he wanted to at least hear Raven say _some_thing to him...even if it would be hurtful... Raven sighed, still not lifting his gaze. "I... had no idea..."

"....Sorry....." He knew that he had scared Raven with this revelation, but keeping it hidden any more could have been even worse... "It's not like it's your fault..." Raven said, still not looking up.

"....But... It's still apart of me.... It's something that I can't change...." Atherin replied quietly, now getting un-nerved that Raven wouldn't look at him. He was hopping that he wouldn't pull a Van on him and start calling him a monster and such.

Raven sighed again and looked up at the sky. It was getting cloudy. "Again... it's not your fault..." Atherin was silent. He still wasn't sure where Raven stood with him now. He just hoped that their friendship wouldn't be compromised because of this. Raven continued to look at the sky, watching the clouds. He was still trying to accept what he had been told.

Atherin had taken a silent, tentative step back, away from Raven. He was starting to feel extremely self conscious of himself as a vampire, compared to what he had been doing to be as 'human' as possible. Raven looked at Atherin. "What's wrong?"

".....You're....afraid of me now.... I can tell....or...at least afraid that one day....I might not stop drinking....." Atherin answered quietly again. "I'm not afraid of you..." Raven said. "....But you're afraid of what I could do to you....or could have done to you...."

"Yeah I'm a little concerned, but I'm not afraid..." Atherin looked a little doubtful about that. He could sense some underlying fear coming from Raven, but he wasn't going to say anything about it. "Don't give me that look..." Raven said, "I told you, you don't scare me..."

"I'd like to hear you say that when I'm about to hurt you or something." Atherin replied. Raven could deny it all he wanted; he could still pick up the slight spike in Raven's heartbeat. Raven looked at him and blinked. That statement frightened him a little...

"I meant if I were to go into another blood lust! I wouldn't dream of hurting you consciously!" Atherin clarified. "Oh... well you didn't say _that_..." Raven said back.

"Well, sorry that I sometimes mix up my human speech. I didn't mean to scare you....which proves that you _are_ afraid of me to a certain degree...." "Well after being nearly eaten twice, it's pretty normal to be a _little_ afraid..." Raven said, "... but I still trust you..."

"....Thanks.... I don't know of any other person who would trust me after those two attacks...." "Hey... I'm not dead, so why shouldn't I trust you?" Raven teased slightly.

".....Oh, there are numerous reasons why, but I don't mind you having wool over your eyes." Atherin smiled. Raven could try all he wants, but he'd never get the upper hand when it came to taunting.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Seems you're feeling better..." he said, "Numerous reasons, huh? Maybe I shouldn't trust you so easily..." he said, smirking. "I never asked you to in the first place. You did that on your own." Atherin shot back. He was glad that little bump in the road was cleared and both he and Raven were feeling like their old selves again.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Maybe I need to start thinking more about _who_ I trust..." he said, his smirk widening slightly. "...You should have thought about that sooner, 'cause now, you're stuck with me."

Raven rolled his eyes. "Just my luck..." "I know. The one person on Zi, who's just about as sadistic as you can get, is your friend." Raven sighed. "Why me?" he muttered to himself.

"Would you rather some other unfor-! Some other soul was to have befriended me?" Atherin asked, smiling at the look Raven gave him. Raven glared. "_Very_ funny Dracula...." he shot back.

Atherin just smiled. He had won again. In fact...he didn't recall Raven ever winning against him in their 'taunting' matches. Raven scowled. "Wipe that smile off you're face, Dracula..." Atherin obliged and instead a smirk formed. How he loved getting under Raven's skin. Raven was half tempted to punch him but decided against it. He knew Atherin would just laugh.

Atherin laughed anyways, basically being able to tell what Raven was thinking by the emotions that flew across his eyes. He was thinking about hitting him or punching him, but not doing it because Raven knew that it would amuse him more than anything. "Shut up Dracula... or I just might punch you..." he growled.

"You wouldn't even be able to make a scratch on me." Atherin replied. Raven rolled his eyes. He punched him on the arm. "Now, I said shut it..." Atherin chuckled slightly. Raven could hit him with all the strength that he could muster and all he'd feel would be the equivalent of someone poking him.

"I hate it when you get like this..." Raven sighed. Atherin just smiled again. He knew he was driving Raven up the wall, and enjoying every minute of it. Raven rolled his eyes. "Why'd I have to get stuck with you?"

"It's what Eve wanted. There must be something that she wants to do." Atherin replied. "Maybe this is her idea of a sick joke..."

"...So....it's a 'sick joke' that I finally have friends?" Raven blinked. "It was a joke, Atherin..." Atherin smirked. "I know. But I got you to feel guilty." Raven glared. "You suck Atherin..." he growled, punching him again. Atherin chuckled again, having beaten Raven at his own game....even if he did use guilt. "You aren't funny, Dracula..." Raven snapped.

"Says you, you're entitled to your own opinion." Atherin answered calmly. "You still suck..." Raven shot back. "You'll get over it. Perhaps one day you might be able to beat me at my own game."

"Yeah... the same day Rabe apologizes and Hell freezes over..." Raven scoffed. Atherin couldn't help but snicker at that comment. It was more than likely true. Raven smirked. "Don't get cocky..."

Atherin raised an eyebrow. "...You do realize that whatever scheme you come up with, I'll just turn it back on you...right?" "Yes.... unfortunately..." Raven sighed.

Atherin smirked, knowing that he had Raven caught. He caught himself from chuckling again, he'd get punched again for sure if he did that...not that he wasn't out of the woods yet with that notion from Raven. Raven sighed and looked at the sky again. A sudden white flash caught his eye. He narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what it was. But he couldn't find it again.

"...Something wrong?" Atherin asked when he saw Raven looking for something in the sky. "I just... thought I saw something..." Raven said, still looking upwards.

"....Something like....?" Atherin asked as he too tried to find whatever it was that Raven had seen, considering he had better vision. "It looked like... an Organoid..." That made Atherin a little nervous. "Did you manage to distinguish a color?" "It looked... white... I think..."

Atherin narrowed his eyes and heightened his senses. The only organoid that was remotely white was Zeke....as he was a silver color. "But... I can't see it now..."

"....Doesn't mean that you should let your guard down...." Atherin said as he tried to locate anything out of place or something that wasn't right. Raven looked around. "Atherin... something... isn't right..." he said quietly, "I feel like... we're being watched..."

"...I know...." Atherin replied quietly. He was looking and listening as well. He was watching behind them, while Raven was watching in front of them. Raven looked to his left and saw a shadowy figure. Before he could even blink it vanished. "Atherin... I just saw another figure..."

Atherin listened a little closer and could faintly hear a figure breathing...but...he couldn't hear a heart beat. "....It's him again...." Atherin said quietly to Raven. "But I can't get a fix on where he is...."

"He? You mean... that was Rabe?!" Raven whispered loudly, getting extremely nervous... "....Panicking won't help....but...as you said you saw something white....I think he has a friend we're not aware of yet...." Atherin whispered back. "There're _two_ of them now?! Just our freaking luck..."

"I know.... I don't mean to sound....pessimistic but.... I think our luck's just about run out... I can barely fend off Rabe....I don't think I'll stand much of a chance with two...."

Raven stared at Atherin. "Great... just great... I can't even last two minutes against Rabe... and now we have to fight against two..."

"...Well... It might be a little easier if I was fully developed....but...as I still have five years 'til then....you're lucky I'm able to barely able to fend of Rabe..."

"Well... that won't help us now, now will it?" Raven said, looking around nervously... "...Not in this situation...." Atherin replied. "Damnit..." Atherin muttered silently. Raven saw a white figure behind Atherin, but it vanished. "Damnit... they're playing with us..."

"I can see that...but I also can't get a hold of Tyme... What in the name of Eve is he doing!? I've sent him at least twenty mental messages and all I get back is white noise..." Atherin huffed in annoyance. If Tyme would come, they'd have a better chance of getting out of this alive.

Raven looked up and saw the white Organoid in the tree above him. It was staring down at him through ice-blue eyes. "What's the matter? Did we scare you...?" she hissed, before vanishing again.

Atherin didn't make a comment as he could see Rabe slinking in the shadows ahead of him. He hadn't yet seen the female yet....and the thought of them having hatchlings made him shudder... Rabe appeared behind Atherin. "Miss me?" he hissed, before sinking back into the shadows.

Atherin wasn't amused with their toying. As he saw it, it was more time for him to try and get _some_one's attention from inside Horai. He'd left one more mental note to Tyme before he tried to get Azel's attention. It wasn't working....Azel was ignoring him for some reason or other that he couldn't place.

The white Organoid suddenly appeared to Atherin's right. "Hello sweetie..." she said, before she vanished in a puff of smoke. Atherin ignored the white organoid's taunting. He kept his guard up and waited for them to strike at them.

She reappeared behind Raven and nosed him sharply, making him fall. She laughed eerily innocently and vanished again. Raven scrambled onto his back. "Atherin, what the Furher do we do?!"

".....Well....obviously standing around isn't going to get us anywhere, but if we try to move or even think of making an attempt at getting to safety, they'll nail us. I hate to say this but...at the moment....we're at their mercy....until they make a more...threatening go at us..."

"Great! We just sit here and wait for them to eat us!" Raven said sarcastically. "...Well if you have a better idea I'm more than willing to listen." Raven thought for a moment. "Everything I've come up with will just make our situation worse..."

"...Same here.... Rabe's got the entrance to Horai covered...even with my speed taking us there, we wouldn't get past him... And this new organoid....we don't know what she's capable of."

Raven opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly the white female appeared and bit his shoulder. Raven yelped in pain, but the female had already vanished. Atherin held Raven up and inspected his bite mark. He could just barely make out a clear fluid around the entrance points. She had paralyzed him but...it didn't seem to be enough to keep him down...or so he thought....

Raven looked at Atherin. "I feel... weird, Atherin..." he said, feeling an odd warmth spreading from the wound. It was getting hard to move, but not impossible; it appeared she hadn't injected enough venom to drop him.

Atherin made sure to keep Raven from falling as he swayed slightly, being ever mindful of the white organoid prowling around them. "...When she bit you she injected her venom....but it was nearly a dry bite... Her venom must be more potent that Rabe's...probably potent enough to keep me grounded...."

"G-great..." Raven stuttered, getting more uneasy on his feet. He was starting to lose feeling, his body going numb. He knew that if the two Vareix decided to eat them, he wouldn't be able to defend himself.

Atherin helped Raven onto the ground so he was sitting down. He wouldn't be able to defend them if he had to support Raven's weight on him. He knew it was only a matter of time before the white female bit him too...and then....their real 'fun' began... The white Organoid appeared behind Atherin. "Aww... did I hurt your friend?" she teased, laughing evilly.

Atherin's eyes flashed red as he made an attempt to hit her soft throat, but with Raven right at his feet, he couldn't turn fast enough. The white Organoid caught his hand in her mouth. "Ah ah ah! No need to get testy!" she said, laughing.

Atherin growled. He wasn't sure if he should try to pull his hand back or not, but considering she didn't break the skin, he wouldn't. He didn't want her to either suddenly clamp down or nearly cleave his hand off. Rika released his hand and vanished in a puff of smoke, enjoying her 'game'...

Atherin inspected his hand as he let it fall to his side again. As far as he could tell it was just a little red. She didn't break his skin and she didn't inject him with her venom yet. The white Organoid reappeared over Raven. "Hmm... I wonder if I should just eat him now..." she mused allowed, smirking and licking her lips.

Atherin positioned himself between Raven and the white Organoid. He couldn't tell if she was just playing with them still or seriously considering eating him. She swatted Atherin away with her tail, leaning down to Raven's level. She pushed him onto his back with her foot. Raven only groaned, unable to move well enough to defend himself. She smirked. "You'd make a perfect meal for my hatchlings..."

_That_ caught Atherin's attention. His eyes narrowed and he somehow managed to shove the white organoid off Raven with out injuring him. The white Organoid hissed, vanishing again. She reappeared behind Atherin. "It's impolite to shove a lady, young vampire..." she hissed in his ear, before vanishing again...

Atherin merely ignored her. He was growing a tad bit tired of her just popping in and saying something, trying to get him riled. That wouldn't work on him…as he was oddly patient for a vampire. He idly wondered if this was what it was like when he teased Raven constantly...

Raven tried to sit up, but the white Organoid's venom had weakened him significantly. She reappeared behind Raven and leaned down to him. "Still conscious I see...." she hissed with a dark smirk, "... well I can fix that..." she said, opening her jaws with a hiss and lunging...

Atherin roughly pushed her head away from Raven. She missed him, but only just. He had now made himself a target....again.... The white Organoid smirked and smacked him with his tail again, knocking him into Rabe's legs. Rabe leaned down and smirked. "Glad to see me?" he hissed. "....You want me to answer that truthfully or just lie straight to your face?"

"I'm one for truthfulness..." Rabe hissed, smirking, showing his fangs, "But I suggest you watch your words carefully, unless you want my mate, Rika, to eat your human friend..." he said smoothly, motioning to the white Organoid standing over Raven, jaws mere inches from his throat...

Atherin wanted to say that they'd end up eating them anyways, but held his sharp tongue...for the moment.... "....What is it exactly that you want with us...? If I know you as well as I think I do, you'd have Raven just about ripped opened and I would be now getting in your way of finishing him off. What is it that you're after....?" Atherin smoothly asked.

Rabe laughed. "Who says that won't happen?" he sneered, "But my sire wants you two alive... for the time being at least..." he added, smirking. "But as soon as we're finished with you, you'll feed us and our hatchlings..." Rika hissed, smirking as well, licking Raven's blood from her fangs and muzzle.

Atherin narrowed his eyes, his mind processing what he had just heard. /...Rabe's...sire...? So....there was someone else pulling the strings....behind his motives...at least a little bit.... And if that's the case...then...his sire has to be at least forty or fifty times stronger than Rabe.../

Rabe sank into the shadows, circling around Atherin. Rika pinned Raven down, preparing to sink her fangs into him again... Atherin made a charge at Rika again to get her away from Raven. He knew that they were still playing with them, but he wouldn't chance anything. He was beginning to wonder why no one else seemed to notice the fact that they were still missing and that their Organoid's couldn't tell that they were in danger.

Rika smirked and vanished again, reappearing in front of Atherin. She bit his shoulder; inject a small amount of venom, before she vanished again... Atherin grabbed at his shoulder. He was positive that her venom was more potent than Rabe's. His shoulder was becoming numb, and he could feel his reflexes slowing. He staid standing as he neared Raven again. He had no idea how long he'd be able to keep standing, but he would for as long as he could.

Raven forced himself into a sitting position. "A-Atherin... what do we do?" he whispered loudly, looking around nervously. "....I don't know.... Rabe was enough on our plate....but now that there's....three of them...and possibly more..... We're at a severe disadvantage. The only thing we can do at the moment is to stay alive long enough for someone to notice us.... I've tried calling Tyme and Azel, but I'm not getting any response from them...."

"Great... the one time we need them, they don't show up..." Raven muttered, looking around for Rika and Rabe. Atherin felt his body get a little heavier, he'd need to kneel down soon, or risk toppling over ungracefully... Raven could see Atherin getting weaker. "Atherin... the moment we both go down, that's it, game over..." he said quietly, seeing Rika reappear to his right.

"I know...but I can't stay standing for much longer....I think....for some reason...her venom has a greater effect on me than it does you...that or...it's just my paranoia getting the better of me..." Atherin said quietly as he felt himself slide a little to the ground. He was still standing, but he wouldn't be for much longer.

Rika edged closer, seeing Atherin weaken. "My venom is gaining control, I see..." she growled to them, "... not much longer before you drop, and then you're mine..." Atherin tried to remain standing, but...as he couldn't feel his legs...or the rest of him body for that matter, he soon fell to his knees beside Raven. "....Sorry....I couldn't last any longer...."

"It's not your fault..." Raven said, getting between Atherin and Rika. He could still move, and he wasn't about to let Rika get to Atherin. Atherin could barely move at all. The most he could do was to flex his hands and move his head slightly to look for Rabe or Rika. He knew that they'd be in a world of hurt soon...and he wasn't looking forward to it.

Rika walked closer. "Well... it seems you two are completely helpless..." she sneered, smirking, showing her fangs. "Based on what my mate told me, I thought you would have at least put up a fight..."

"Then your mate must be weak to find us challenging." Atherin snapped back. He couldn't restrain himself any more. Rika snorted and glared at Atherin. She ducked down and grabbed his shirt, ripping him from the ground. She brought her face within an inch of his and hissed. "Just be thankful Rabe's sire wants you and your human alive, vampire, or I'd tear you open and eat you alive right now..." she growled dangerously, her eyes filled with malice.

Atherin glared back at her. He was unfazed by her threats. She didn't scare him in the slightest, but he did fear what they wanted with them. He couldn't quite piece together why both he and Raven were wanted or what sick things they do to them.

Rika dropped him to the ground. Rabe immediately rushed forward and clamped his jaws on Atherin's shoulder, injecting his venom. Rika walked over and bent down to Raven. She made a shot at his neck, but Raven moved, and her jaws closed on his shoulder, an inch from his neck. Raven cried out in pain, feeling her inject more venom. Atherin was aware that Rabe was biting his shoulder, but...he couldn't exactly feel it... He knew now that any chance of recovering from both venoms would take a very, very long time.... Raven had fallen unconscious from the venom, limp in Rika's jaws. She repositioned him and picked him up effortlessly in her mouth, turning to her mate. "I have the human..."

Atherin was going to be as stubborn as hell and fight off the venom for as long as he could. He was praying to Eve that someone, _any_one would find them before they where taken Eve only knows where. He was going to fight this to the last...or.... No... He had a better idea... Atherin started to fake going unconscious, but stayed true to his character of pulling himself out of it. If no one would come to help them now, then the least he could do was stay awake long enough to see where they were going.

Rabe released Atherin's shoulder, picking him up in his jaws. "I have half a mind to swallow him right now..." he growled lowly, "But we can't disappoint _him_..." he sighed, turning to his mate. "Don't worry, as soon as _he_ is done with them, we and our hatchlings can devour them..." Rika said, before she vanished in a puff of smoke, taking Raven with her.

Seeing that the white Organoid had taken Raven, Atherin felt that it was time to just 'play dead' and go unconscious as well. He allowed his eyes to nearly close, but Rabe would never be able to see the sliver that he had opened.

Rabe sank into the shadows, following his mate. Traveling through the darkness, he reached their 'home base' within minutes. He resurfaced in an abandoned military base, Atherin still in his jaws. "So... you and Rika managed to capture them?" a dark voice asked, coming from a red-haired man. Rabe growled in response. "Good... put them in a cell. Well being the 'interrogation' when they wake."

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_**Author's Note:**_ Oh no!! OX Atherin and Raven were captured!! And what's this!? Rabe has a mate!? And who is this red-haired person!? What does he want with them!? You'll just have to wait to find out!! Please Review!!


	22. Bats

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do NOT own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul, Rika and Avea do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME**__. The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if Redai is used without my permission, however, if you use Jurei please make note of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ DX Atherin and Raven were captured by Rabe and his mate Rika! And then there's that red-haired man too! What does he want with them!? You'll just have to read to find out!

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me. Thanks to those of you that Reviewed!!

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Ͽ Bats Ͼ

Atherin didn't like the sound of this man or this...'interrogation' in the slightest. This only proved to him that they were indeed looking for something, and they thought that he and Raven knew the answer. Rabe and Rika turned away from the man and walked deeper into the darkened base. The white female pushed open a metal bar door, walking into a cell.

Atherin staid silent and unmoving, he watched as they were taken deeper into the military base as he soon recognized, and watched as they were taken into a cell. Rabe dropped Atherin in the left corner of the cell, while Rika put Raven in the opposite corner. Rabe proceed to put chains on Atherin's wrists, more than enough to keep him restrained. Rika did the same to Raven. Atherin wasn't too thrilled with being restrained, but he still didn't show any sign that he was conscious of what they were doing. As soon as he was sure that they were out of earshot he'd try to find out where they were exactly.

Rabe turned to his mate. "We'll return in a little bit to see if they've regained consciousness... and then the...'fun' will begin..." he hissed, laughing evilly. Rika snickered as well. "As soon as Draicoul is finished with them, we can feed them to our fledglings..." she sneered, walking out of the cell. Rabe followed her, and shut the door behind him before they walked away...

As soon as Atherin couldn't hear them any more he opened his eyes fully and looked around. They were in an underground cell with the small window above them. It was the only source of light and fresh air that they had. Atherin took a moment, trying to find out where they were due to the air that they were receiving. It was dry, no moisture at all....they were in the desert somewhere...

Another moment and he figured that they were on Republican territory....but where exactly in the Republic, he wasn't sure. He tried to break the chains the were binding him, but his body was still a little weak to do much more than cause the restraints to squeak and groan. He wouldn't be able to do much until he regained himself more, and there was still Raven's condition as well.

Raven moved slightly and opened his eyes a crack, slowly recovering from Rika's venom. He tried to move, but couldn't; his hands were chained above his head. "A-Atherin?"

"...You're awake. It seems that they've brought us to an abandoned Republican military base. That's about all I can make out. Though....I do know that they plan to 'interrogate' us.... I don't know what it is they want or what they plan to do to us....but....it's not looking good for us at the moment...." Atherin replied quietly.

"Just our luck..." Raven groaned, sighing loudly, "I managed to hear what they said before they left. Draicoul... isn't that that Vareix I found in that book?"

"....Unfortunately.... He's the one from the legend...so...I can only imagine what he's planning...."

"Great..." Raven rolled his eyes, "I also overheard them talking about hatchlings..."

"Yeah...they're Rabe, and his mate, Rika's hatchlings... They mentioned them back on Horai while you were out cold..." Atherin answered quietly.

"Great... just great..." Raven groaned, leaning his head back against the wall.

"I know... I've been trying to break free of these bonds ever since they left.... But the venom still has a strong hold on my body....I can't do much more than make noise at the moment...."

"Me either... but I _really_ don't want to meet Draicoul or their hatchlings..." Raven said, "I have a feeling their fledglings won't be as friendly as Rollo..."

"I don't want to meet them either...you know that my mouth will only get us into more trouble....which is something that we don't need at the moment..." Raven couldn't help but smirk slightly. "How do we manage to get in these situations?"

"Heh, it's because they 'love' us so much. We're their favorites."

"If they 'love' us so much, why don't they just get it over with? I have a feeling they're going to have some 'fun' with us..."

"When don't they?" Atherin asked as he tried to break free of the restraints again. Raven could see the metal around his wrists bend a little, but they didn't snap. "Damnit, I still don't have the strength to break them..."

"Well... I can't get out of these..." Raven said, trying to get his hands free. But he was far too weak from the venom still to move much. Atherin tired again, but only managed to pull the chain out of the wall a little. He sighed, not liking the fact that he couldn't do much more than that. While doing all of this he had tried getting a hold of Tyme again, and had succeeded. After telling him what had happened, deciding that getting his message across rather than giving him a mindful of colorful words, Tyme had went to tell the others about what had happened and would try to find them as quickly as they could.

Raven was trying to get free, when he heard something down the hall. "Atherin... something's coming...." Atherin stopped his struggling and listened as well. The foot falls were light, and coming their way. "Yeah...I hear it too.... It's not as heavy as Rabe's or Rika's.... I think....it might be one of their....hatchlings...."

"A hatchling? Great..." Raven rolled his eyes, trying to get free again. But he stopped when he saw the hatchling, looking in at them through the bars... Atherin looked over to the hatchling as well, and was surprised to see a three year old girl, with long white hair, streaked with pale blue and bright lavender eyes looking at them. She had a teddy bear in one hand, and Atherin couldn't believe that she could possibly be one of Rabe and Rika's hatchlings. ".....Hello....what's a cute thing like you doing down here?" He asked softly, tying not to scare her. Raven blinked and stared at the child. "Umm... Atherin, you see that, right?"

"Of course I see her! She's so cute!" Atherin replied. The little girl blinked her violet eyes and looked at Atherin. "Who are you?" she asked innocently, hugging her little blue stuffed Liger. "I'm Atherin. And who're you sweetheart?" He smiled. He couldn't help it; he had a soft spot for kids.

"Avea..." the girl replied, still hugging her stuffed Blade Liger. "That's a really pretty name. And who's your friend?" Atherin asked, indicating the stuffed Liger.

"Oh, this is Ligie..." Avea said, holding out the stuffed Blade Liger. "It's nice to meet you Ligie." Atherin said, Avea giggled. "...So Avea...why are you down here?"

"My mommy and daddy said they brought back friends..." she said, still hugging Ligie. "Well...I guess that would be us. We've...meet a few times." Atherin replied, not wanting to say any more about their....encounters... Avea looked up and opened the door, walking in. She shut it behind her and turned, still hugging Ligie.

Atherin tried to move into a more comfortable position, but as his hands were chained above his head, he didn't have many options available to him. He watched as Avea entered their cell, wondering what on Zi the child was doing. Avea sat Ligie down and walked over to Atherin. She undid his chains, not liking them. She did the same to Raven.

Atherin rubbed his wrists, as they were red and sore from just hanging there. "Thanks Avea. You...didn't need to do that for us." He caught Raven's look, and if he could mentally talk with him, he'd explain why. It was quite obvious to him that Avea was worlds apart from her parents, and he didn't want her to get in trouble...or blamed for making her release them. Avea picked up Ligie again, sitting down next to Atherin. She hugged her Liger again, giggling quietly. "Atherin... that's a pretty name..."

"Well, thank you Avea." Atherin replied his ears tuned in to when her mommy and daddy would be coming to check in on them. He then looked over to Raven. "Well...aren't you going to say anything?"

"I'm... more than a little confused at the moment..." Raven answered, rubbing his wrists. Avea giggled at him, until she heard something. "Mommy's coming..." she said innocently. Atherin heard it too. "Hear that Raven? 'Mommy's' coming.... I just hope that 'mommy' doesn't think we forced Avea to let us go..."

Avea turned into her true form- a white hatchling. She had pale blue stripes down her body like a tiger, with white wings and tiny golden claws. Rika appeared at the door. She smirked slightly. "Well.... it appears Avea has taken a shine to you..." she said oddly calmly, opening the door and walking in. "And you're free too..." she said lowly, glaring death at Atherin, thinking he had forced Avea.

Atherin stayed calm, he didn't force Avea to free them; she had done so on her own free will. Besides, he wouldn't even think of 'charming' a child. He kept his mouth shut, least he incur more of Rika's wrath than he already had. Avea jumped into Atherin's lap, dragging the stuffed Liger with her. "Stop yelling..." she squeaked, curling up.

Atherin didn't quite know what to do when Avea curled up in his lap. He didn't want to enrage 'momma' any more than he already had. But he knew that as soon as Rika got Avea to leave, she'd hurt him...badly...

Rika leaned down and picked up Avea and her stuffed Liger in her mouth. "Go back with your brothers and sisters, sweetie..." she said softly, setting her down outside the cell. Avea squeaked in protest, but did as she was told and ran off. Rika turned to Atherin. She grabbed his shirt and slammed him into the wall, hissing in his face.

Atherin could feel blood running down his neck; the force of being slammed into the wall had left another concussion. Atherin knew it was better to not say anything as he valued his life. He did, however, refuse to look away from her gaze, but he wasn't glaring at Rika, his eyes were passive. He hadn't done anything wrong; he had even told Avea that she didn't have to free them.

Rika brought her jaws up to Atherin's throat, snarling loudly. She opened her jaws, pressing her fangs into his neck, narrowing her eyes dangerously. Atherin's breath hitched as he felt Rika biting _into_ his neck. His eyes once again glazed over and he fell limp in her hold. His mind was once again doing all that it could to keep intrusions out.

Rika took a swallow of blood and released his neck, not wanting to disobey Draicoul. "You're lucky Draicoul wants you alive, Atherin...." she hissed, "But the moment you and Raven are no long of use to us, I'll tear you open and let my hatchlings devour you..." she growled, pushing him harder into the wall before dropping him. She turned and slammed the door behind her, locking it and vanishing.

The only fabric that Atherin had to stop the wound from bleeding was his scarf. He pulled it up to where the wounds were, albeit with shaky hands, and tightened his scarf around his neck. He could still breathe just fine, but if it went any tighter it would start to strangle him. His heart beat and breathing were getting irregular, as he was on the verge of a panic attack. "Atherin... calm down, she's gone..." Raven said, trying to get him to stop panicking, "Just keep quiet and try and calm down..."

Atherin didn't look at Raven, but nodded slowly anyways. The last time he had been bitten on the neck, he couldn't remember any of it, but he was fully aware this time, and than made his breathing get a little faster. He was trying to stay calm. He knew that panicking would surely doom the both of them. He forced himself to start taking deep, slow breaths in an attempt to calm himself.

Raven looked at Atherin again. "Just keep quiet... my guess is we only have a few minutes before they come back and begin interrogating us..." Atherin nodded again, even though he had his eyes close and head down. He knew that Raven most likely right, and, once Rika told Rabe of his alleged coercing of his daughter to free them, he'd get nailed again, and he wasn't looking forward to that.

As if responding to his thoughts, Rika and Rabe returned, glaring at Atherin through the bars of the cell. Rabe snarled and lashed his tail against the bar, narrowing his eyes, glaring death at Atherin. Atherin registered that Rabe was there as well, but he still had his head down, his heart rate and breathing had returned to normal just before Rabe and Rika came back to them. He wasn't looking forward to being taken somewhere else by either of them.

Rabe hissed, before he stepped aside, the red-haired man between them. "So... the two of you are awake..." he said, smirking, showing sharp fangs. Atherin lifted his head a little to get a better look at the red haired man that he had vaguely seen earlier. He concluded in a second that he didn't want to get on his bad side. He'd wait to see what it was that they wanted before he decided his next action.

The man said something to Rabe, and the black Organoid transformed into his human form. Rika wasn't able to transform. "Hmm... no damage from your venom... you must have been going _easy_ on them, Rika..." the man sneered, smirking cruelly. Rika snored in disagreement. "I'll kill them once you're done..." she hissed, licking her lips.

Atherin watched them closely. The fact that Rika's venom was supposed to damage them was....concerning news. He still didn't move, not wanting to gain their attention too much until he could hear a little more.

"Okay... as soon as I finish with them, you can eat them Rika..." the man said, smirking more broadly. "And you can toy with them too, Rabe..." he added, and the Vareix smirked darkly. "But first... we need to 'convince' them to tell us what they know about 'it'..."

/What could we possibly know that they don't? / Atherin wondered to himself. He wouldn't say anything until he knew what they wanted...and even if he did knew he wouldn't tell them anyways. Raven kept quiet as well. He didn't like the look the red-haired man and Rabe were giving him. He had a feeling he was going to be in for a world of hurt. Rika glared at Atherin again, baring her bloody fangs as a threat.

Atherin saw Rika glaring at him again. He was also aware of the fact that the both of them would be in pain and real soon. But, he was still clueless as to what they wanted. /What are they after? They're powerful enough as is...they can't possibly--! Unless they're talking about 'It'. Could it be possible that they can't find the....'Demonsbane'...?/

The man saw the look Atherin had on his face. "So you DO know about what we're after..." Atherin wasn't sure how he should respond. He knew that straight out lying would kill them in a heart beat, but....he could twist words... However, he wasn't going to say anything until they confirmed it. The man smirked. "Don't try to hide it, I know you and your human 'friend' know where the 'Demonsbane' is located..."

"....Correction. Did know... It's been moved." It wasn't a total lie, he knew who had it and where it was going, but at the moment, he had no idea where it was... The man smirked. "Sure... of course..."

"Doubt me all you want, but I don't know where it is anymore." Atherin replied calmly. "Don't worry... we have ways of making you talk...." he shot back, his gaze cutting over to Raven.

Atherin saw the man's gaze cut over to Raven. He knew that they would torture Raven to make him talk, but he didn't want to put Ibeyla in danger if he told them that she had it. He shot a quick mental note to Tyme to let him know immediately when Ibeyla returned to Horai with the 'Demonsbane' That way...they'd have to get it off Tyme...which was a task in of itself.

Raven didn't like the way the man was looking at him, but he kept his mouth shut. The man smirked and turned his gaze back to Atherin. "Don't worry... we'll get you to talk..." Atherin kept his mouth shut. He wouldn't be talking about anything until he got word from Tyme that he had 'It'. He knew that he wasn't going to like the next couple of....hours....but he wasn't going to talk. He just hoped that Raven understood why.

The man smirked and turned to the Vareix pair. "Give them a little bit to consider cooperating, and if they don't, we'll 'persuade' them..." he said, walking away. Rabe and Rika walked away as well, leaving them alone, for the time being.

Atherin made sure that the Vareix trio was gone before he spoke to Raven. "...I'm not going to talk.... Just...prepare yourself...." Raven nodded. He knew what was about to happen, and he wasn't happy about it. "They're gonna try and hurt me to make you talk... whatever happens, don't tell them where 'It' is..."

"I won't.... But you have to promise me the same.... They could torture me as well to get you to talk.... When 'he' gets it...I'll let you know..." Atherin replied, hoping that Raven knew he was talking about Tyme. Raven nodded. "I won't talk. I just hope 'he' can get it before they kill one of us..."

"Same here.... I do know that they're trying to locate us....but.....there's a lot of desert to cover...."

"I don't think they'll find us time... these Vareix aren't going to let us live long enough..."

"....Now who's being pessimistic?" Atherin teased. If they were going to die, then he might as well get a few more quips out of Raven...just in case... "Shut it Dracula..." Raven snapped, "We're about to be eaten by a pack of psychotic Vareix and you're joking around..."

"You're insulting me. I think we're even." Atherin said, preparing himself for what was to come. "Very funny... but I'd be concerned with the Vareix about to eat us!"

"I am concerned, but if we die we won't really get to insult each other any more after this. And if by some slim miracle that we do survive, we won't be conscious, let alone moving for a few days...."

Raven sighed. "I guess you're right..." Atherin quieted down after that. He wanted to prepare himself as best as he could. Both he and Raven needed to last as long as they could...at least until Tyme replied back to him.

Raven tried to mentally contact Shadow, but he couldn't get a response from her. He figured she was too far away. "This is not going to be fun..." "...No, it won't..." Atherin replied, and after seeing Raven's expression, "I take it that you can't get a hold of your Organoid either?"

"No I can't get a hold of her..." Raven sighed, "What about you Dracula? Anyone on your end?"

"I can't get Azel or Eiji...but I can get Tyme....."

"Well that's good... but we don't know where the Helkat we are, so they can't really come find us...."

"All I know is that we're in an abandoned military base in the Republic. That narrows down the areas that they need to look in... Slightly..."

"Yeah... narrows it down to the whole of the Republic!" Raven sighed. Atherin sighed as well.... Things were looking bleak for them. Only Eve knew if they would survive this...

Raven rubbed his wrists again. The rusty chains had rubbed them raw. He was bleeding slightly, and he knew that would make him an immediate target if Rika brought her fledglings with her. He turned to Atherin. "What do you think they'll do to us?"

"...Your guess is as good as mine..." Atherin replied. He debated on using an energy transfer to heal the small cuts on his wrists, but he wasn't sure if Raven would let him. Raven looked around the cell they were in as he tried to stop the small cuts from bleeding. It was dark and damp; not a pleasant place to be. He knew that if they seriously injured them, they'd be in serious danger of an infection. He looked over at Atherin. "Any ideas? For anything?"

Atherin sighed and grabbed Raven's wrists using an energy transfer to heal his wounds and to keep them from infection. ".....I don't know if it'll work....but....I could try using the energy transfer to become some sort of antibiotic...."

"Thanks..." Raven said, looking at wrists, "But save the rest of your strength, you'll need it..."

"...But you'll need it more... I'm positive that you'll get the brunt of their attacks... I'm pretty resilient...but...you're not..."

"I told you... you need your strength..."

Atherin didn't like that answer. Before Raven could even register what had happened, Atherin had grabbed his wrists again and transferred some more of his energy to Raven. He tried his best to make the energy transfer into an antibiotic, while also increasing his resiliency. For the moment, Raven had health and protection nearly equivalent to a vampire.

Raven pulled his hands back. "I told you to not do that..."

"Too late, for the next....four hours you have the resiliency of a vampire... And I believe you'll have an antibiotic for the next five or six..." Atherin replied. "Yeah... but that won't do much if they tear my throat out..."

"They won't tear it out... Not right off the bat at least.... So...my actions are justified...besides...if by some slim chance that they do find us....I don't want to go back alone..."

"Me either..." Raven said, "If you die Dracula, I'll kill you..."

"If that happens, you better not leave me in hell all by myself for too long..." Atherin replied.

"Don't worry; you wouldn't be in hell long; you'd annoy the Devil to the point that he'd kick you out..." Atherin smirked. "I'll make sure to grab you on the way back up, while you're going down."

"Very funny..." Raven rolled his eyes, punching him in the arm. Atherin chuckled, before he stopped, thinking that he heard something down the hall way. Raven looked up as well, listening too. He didn't hear anything, but saw a bat flying around. It landed on the bars of their cell. "Great... bats..."

Atherin looked up to the bat as well. He couldn't place it, but he felt like it was watching their every move. He looked to Raven again. "....I think it's here to keep an eye on us.... Bats are shy creatures....so...it's strange to see one on our cell bars.... Just...try not to make eye contact with it, or act to suspicious.... I think that one man has trained them..."

"Great... just great..." Raven rolled his eyes, sighing. The bat flew down and clung to the wall above them, watching both of them. Atherin leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes. The only thing that they could do was wait for them to come back. The bat flew back to the door, still watching them. Another one joined it, now two watched them. Raven looked at them warily. "I hate bats..."

Atherin looked at him. "...I like bats....just not ones trained to watch me...." Raven looked at him. "How can you like them?! I mean they fly around and bi- never mind..." he trailed off.

Atherin chuckled slightly. "...I like them because they're nocturnal flying creatures, and they're pretty soft too...and contrary to your human beliefs, bats rarely bite people."

"Soft?! Have you seen the teeth these ones have?!" Raven said, pointing to the fangs showing in one of the bat's mouth. "...Your point?" Atherin asked, one of his fangs showing as he spoke. Raven blinked. "I... should have seen that coming..." he said quietly, "But... those 'things' don't ask for permission before they bite..."

"...They're not 'things'...they're living beings....it's not their fault they were trained to do this...." Atherin replied. For some reason unbeknownst to him, he felt compelled to defend them... "Still... those things probably have rabies..."

"...If they had rabies they would have attacked us already..." "That makes me feel so much better..." Raven shot Atherin a glare. "You're welcome." Atherin answered as he leaned back against the wall. "That wasn't a compliment..."

"So?" Atherin asked. Something crossed his mind again, but it was just Tyme saying that they just received a message from Ibeyla, saying she was now on her way back with the 'Demonsbane'. "....'She's' returning with 'It' right now...."

"Really? That fast?" Raven said quietly. "That's what 'he' said... But...since they're looking for us in the Whale King they're moving.... Who knows when 'she'll' catch up with them..."

"True... but her Zoid is extremely fast... after all, the Saix was spawned from its design..." Raven said, looking warily at the bats, expecting them to swoop down and bite him or something... Atherin saw Raven's weary glance back to the bats. Atherin couldn't tell why they made him so nervous.... Yeah he knew that they were....guard bats...? But he didn't have a problem with them.

Raven had had enough. He picked up a small pebble and threw it at the bats. They squeaked and chittered in fear, flying around in a panic. Atherin didn't like it when Raven threw a pebble at them. One of them flew close to him, as if he would protect it from Raven and his pebbles. He held out his hand and the terrified creature clung to it, hanging upside down on his index finger.

Raven stared at Atherin. "Umm... you do know that 'thing' is ON you, right?!" Just to spite Raven, Atherin used his free index finger to tickle the fragile creature hanging off his finger. The bat seemed to enjoy this, as it closed its eyes, and since Atherin could hear their frequencies, it almost sounded like it was purring...a high squeaky purr, but a purr nonetheless. Raven's eyes widened. "You're sick, Atherin... you don't know where that thing's been!"

"....Why are you so scared of these little creatures? They're not _that_ scary..." Atherin asked ignoring Raven's comment about where the little thing had been. "Because... they're ugly and have sharp teeth and dive at people..." Raven snapped back. "They're not ugly, and they only dive at people because of the bugs floating around them, and what's wrong with having sharp teeth!?"

"They BITE..." Raven shot back. Atherin glared at Raven, he felt like Raven was implying something. Atherin then looked to where the other bat had settled, in a dark corner, and out of Raven's sight. He then gently tossed the bat that he had into the air so it could join the other. The bat flew around for like five seconds before it came and landed on him again.

"It likes you..." Raven said, looking at the tiny creature in disgust. "So it would seem.... It wouldn't have happened if you hadn't of thrown a rock at them."

"Yay me..." Raven rolled his eyes, "That 'thing' better not be coming home with us... I hate bats..." "It's not a 'thing' it's a living creature. Would it make you feel better if I gave it a name?"

"NO..." Raven said quickly, "Naming it means you like it, and that means 'it' is coming home with us..."

"Tell that to her." Atherin said, indicating the bat clinging to his mesh shirt. "Her?" Raven said, "I told you, 'it' is NOT coming home with us!"

"I know that! But what if she follows us? She'd die if we were to throw her from the Whale King..." Raven stared. "Don't tell me... you want to keep it as a pet..."

"I'd rather see her living in a forest somewhere.....not here...." Atherin replied, as the bat shifted around on his shirt to get comfortable. "You're just saying that... you want to take her with you, don't you?" Raven said, looking at him disbelievingly.

"Haa...? What's this? You're calling her by her gender and not 'it'? Growing attached are we?" Atherin teased. Raven glared. "Shut it, Dracula..." he snapped, "I'm not getting attached to that... thing..."

"Again...she's not a 'thing' she's a living being. How many times do I have to tell you that? And to answer your previous question of just wanting to take her with me, it's no. I want her to be living else where...not cooped up behind stone walls...." Atherin replied.

"Sure..." Raven rolled his eyes, "Of course you won't take her with us...." Atherin just smirked, Raven having slipped again. He'd be calling the bat its gender by habit soon enough. "What're you smirking about, Dracula?" Raven asked, narrowing his eyes and crossing his arms. He didn't like being around these bats.

"You slipped again." Atherin answered, as the bat squeaked too high for Raven to hear, but Atherin could hear it perfectly. He tickled the creature again, knowing that he was still horrifying Raven. Raven shuddered in disgust. "How can you touch that thing?!"

"...Easy." He replied, still tickling the bat. "She's really soft ya know.... It's almost like petting a kitten." Raven had a disgusted look on his face. "I don't think so..."

Atherin was about to answer back when a noise caught his attention. He stopped what he was doing and listened...trying to figure out if they were coming back to torture them.... Raven immediately listened as well. He could hear footsteps. "Atherin... I think they're back to 'persuade' us to help them..."

Atherin listened harder. Light footsteps again.... "....I don't think it is... I think it might be Avea again..." "How much better is that? She's Rika and Rabe's hatchling..."

"She's just a kid Raven.... And you can't blame her for hurting us just 'cause they're her 'mommy' and 'daddy'..."

"But she could be dangerous...."

".....She's too sweet to be dangerous.... I believe that she won't hurt us...even when she does get older..."

"... Haven't you ever heard of a Koenig in DiBision's clothing?"

"Yeah.... But...I still don't think she's gonna hurt us." Raven opened his mouth to respond, when Avea appeared at the door. "Hello Atherin and Raven!" she said sweetly, hugging Ligie.

"Hello Avea. And what're you doing back down here?" Atherin asked, smiling. "I came to say hi!" Avea answered, smiling and hugging Ligie more tightly. Atherin chuckled lightly at Avea's chipper mood and tad bit of shyness when she squeezed the life out of Ligie. He couldn't see why Raven thought her to be dangerous...but then again...he was dangerous too...so he didn't have room to talk...

Avea smiled and opened the door, walking in. She sat down near Atherin, and her eyes caught the bat. "That's one of papal's bats!" she said, pointing to the tiny creature clinging to Atherin. Atherin looked to the clinging bat on his shirt. "Figured she was....but she seems to like me for some reason..." Atherin answered, tickling the creature clinging to him.

Avea giggled and held out her hand, and the other bat immediately alighted there, flying past Raven, making him jump. She smiled and petted it like a kitten. "I love bats.... they're so furry and cute!" Atherin couldn't help but laugh a little when Raven jumped. He then turned back to Avea. "I like bats too...for the same reasons that you do... But _some_ people just don't understand them..."

"Ha ha..." Raven mock laughed, glaring at him. Avea snickered at him, still petting the bat in her hand. "They're like kittens with wings!!" she giggled, the bat licking her fingers. Atherin stopped himself from laughing at Raven any more. He didn't want him to think that he preferred a bat and a Vareix hatchling over him as friends. He was a little on edge though...the last time he had come into contact with Avea he ended up having his neck bitten...something he didn't want to experience again.

Avea giggled and threw the bat up lightly, and it flew around the cell before landing... on Raven's shoulder. Raven yelped and jumped, falling over. The bat shot over to Avea and landed on the back of her shoulder, like a frightened child hiding behind its parents. Atherin couldn't help but burst out laughing. They were in the worst predicament _ever_ and, if given even a little bit of time, would find a way to annoy the hell out of one another. When Atherin had regained himself...if ever so slightly...he made a remark to Raven; "What's the matter Raven? The 'Dark One' scared of a creature of the night?"

Raven glared at Atherin. "Just shut it Dracula... it 'surprised' me..." "Just keep tellin' yourself that..." Atherin shot back, his eyes had the epitome of mischief and amusement playing through them.

Raven glared at him. Avea was still snickering to herself, stroking the shaking bat. She picked it up and threw it into the air again, and this time it flew back up to the bars of the door. Atherin tried to get the bat that was clinging to him to fly back to where she was suppose to be but, once again, it flew around for a few seconds before landing on him again. Atherin just shook his head slightly, still nervous about what would happen if mommy or daddy....or papal....found them with Avea again....

Avea watched the bat and giggled. "Teehee, she likes you, Atherin!!" Atherin patted the fragile creature before he looked over to Raven. As much as he wanted to tease him about being afraid of a little bat, he couldn't. The...'interrogation' was starting to weigh heavy on his mind...and he was starting to get worried by the fact that it's been nearly half an hour since they last checked in on them...

Raven glared at Atherin, knowing what he was thinking. He wanted to make a smart ass comment, but he was getting worried as well. As if responding to his fears, he heard footsteps down the hall. Avea heard as well. "I have to go..." she said, transforming back to her true form and vanishing in a puff of smoke.

"....Three and a half hours....is all the resiliency that you have left...and I'd say....four and a half for the antibiotic...." Atherin reminded Raven quietly. He hadn't received any word from Tyme about Ibeyla getting to them...or the Whale King finding them yet....

"Great... as soon as if wears off I'm dead..." Raven groaned, "... I have a time limit, joy..." he muttered under his breath, staring at the bat still clinging to Atherin. Atherin bit his lip, before deciding to lengthen Raven's 'time limit'. Three and a half hours wasn't long enough for Tyme and the others to find them. Once again, before Raven could register what had happened, Atherin had transferred more of his energy before Raven could push him away. The bat that had been clinging to him had taken off at his sudden movement. Raven glared at Atherin and pushed him away. "Stop doing that! You need your strength!" he snapped.

"As do you, five hours is a better time frame for them finding us rather than three and a half... I'll be fine.... I've barely given you a quarter of my energy...." Atherin replied calmly. "But you'll still need all you're strength.... I have a feeling these Vareix aren't going to just let us go even _if_ we cooperate..."

"I know that.... But...the longer we stall them the better the chance of 'It' getting to 'him' and a slightly better chance of us getting out of here alive...." "Slightly... is the keyword..." Raven muttered, "But what if they don't find us in time?"

"....Then....we either just give up and let them kill us...which I'm not to fond of...or....we somehow manage to gain some time for ourselves before they kill us and find a way to escape...."

"_Let_ them kill us?!" Raven stared at Atherin, "But... what if they _do_ find us? They have no idea what they're getting themselves in to..."

"...If they do find us, then Eve must _really_ love us. You forget....'he's' a lot stronger than I am....fifty fold stronger.... And 'he'll' hopefully have 'It'. And...knowing Karl and Donnie...they've probably found some silver to turn into dust or something to throw it in their faces and greatly wound them.... And I wasn't going to just 'let' them kill us. Hell would have to freeze over a hundred times before I just 'let' them kill us."

"Well... that's reassuring...." Raven rolled his eyes, "Let's just hope they find us in time..." Atherin nodded, listening as the footsteps got closer to where they were. Only time would tell if they made it out of this alive...

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_**Author's Note:**_ OX Things aren't looking good for them… They've met one of Rabe and Rika's hatchlings and, as their luck would have it, she's become attached to them! XP Some light humor is in this chapter but other than that, they're preparing themselves for what's to come. What kind of torture will Rabe, Rika and Driacoul put them through? Will Ibeyla be able to get the 'Demonsbane' back to Tyme? Will they even _find_ them in time!? You'll just have to wait and find out!! Please Review!!


	23. Torture

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do NOT own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul, Rika and Avea do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME**__. The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. However, I do not mind if Redai is used without my permission, but if you use Jurei please make note of it in your Disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ Last chapter Atherin and Raven met Avea, one of Rika and Rabe's hatchlings. And, as their luck would have it, she grew attached to them quickly. It's also made clear what Driacoul is looking for, the 'Demonsbane', the only sword strong enough to actually cause damage to him. It was a given that Atherin and Raven wouldn't talk, but what's Driacoul going to do to them?

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me. Thanks to those of you that Reviewed!!

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Ͽ Torture Ͼ

The red-haired man appeared and looked in at Raven and Atherin. "So... have you thought it over?" he asked, smirking, exposing a sharp fang, "Are you going to cooperate? Or are we going to have to 'persuade' you to tell us?"

"......" Was Atherin's answer, he wasn't going to be talking any time soon. The man smirked again. "I take it you aren't going to cooperate..." he said, looking over his shoulder. Rika appeared in a puff of smoke and growled loudly at Atherin.

Atherin still didn't say anything. He'd be keeping his mouth zipped until it came time to tell Raven that Tyme had the 'Demonsbane'. Rika leaned over to the man. "Can I kill them now?" she whispered loudly, smirking and exposing her fangs. "Not yet..."

Atherin was unfazed by her threat. Both he and Raven already knew that they'd be fighting for their lives. But...so long as they didn't say anything about the whereabouts of the 'Demonsbane' they wouldn't kill them...for a little while at least... The man smirked again, exposing his fangs. As Raven and Atherin watched, his human form melted away, revealing the Vareix from the book, Draicoul. He hissed and glared at them through narrowed icy eyes.

Atherin watched as Driacoul revealed his true form. He grew uneasy seeing the Vareix from the legend, but he still remained silent. Draicoul glared in at them. "Rika... chain them..." he hissed, and Rika smirked. She walked in, and went to chain Atherin first.

Atherin knew that struggling would only result in more injuries than what he wanted to receive....so he didn't struggle and remained silent. He wasn't going to talk. Rika chained Atherin again, hissing at him. She leaned down and snarled in his face, baring her fangs an inch from his throat. Atherin remained as calm as he could. He was unsure if she would bite him on the neck again, but even if she did, he still wouldn't open his mouth to say anything.

Rika hissed again, narrowing her eyes dangerously. She turned away from him and chained Raven as well, not leaving anything to chance. She returned to Driacoul's side. "So... I can see simply chaining you won't make you talk..." he said calmly, "But I'm sure us having a little...'fun' with your human 'friend' will change your mind..."

"......." Atherin still wasn't going to say anything. They had given him and Raven time to come to an understanding and time for him to try and do as much as he could to make sure that Raven stayed alive. That was their mistake...and he hoped that it came back to haunt them. Draicoul walked in and stalked over to Atherin. "Don't worry... your 'friend' won't die... immediately..." he hissed, laughing cruelly. Atherin remained silent, not talking, and starting to detach his hearing a little to muffle the sounds of torture.

Draicoul smirked and walked over to Raven. He leaned down and sank his fangs into Raven's side, making him cry out in pain. But before he even injected venom, he released him, turning back to Atherin. "My work is done... I'm sure you'll rethink your silence soon..." he said smoothly, smirking as he licked the blood from his fangs. As he turned to leave, he accidently hit the chains holding Raven, causing them to shatter. Draicoul sighed. "Oops... doesn't matter... he'll be dead in a few hours anyway..." he hissed, smirking as he shut the door behind him, both he and Rika leaving.

As soon as he was sure that they were gone, Atherin broke the chains that were restraining him. He had recovered from the venom, and as they didn't re-administer it, he had full capabilities again. He immediately went to Raven, ignoring his now bleeding wrists. He inspected his side, moving Raven's hands out of the way. He couldn't see what was exactly wrong as he couldn't see any venom around the entrance wounds. He didn't know if it would help but he tried an energy transfer to try and get rid of what ever Driacoul had injected into Raven.

Raven covered the wounds again. They hurt worse than Rabe and Rika's punctures, and Atherin's energy transfer didn't help much at all. "Atherin... I feel... weird..." When Atherin saw that the puncture wounds were still there, he grew worried. His energy transfer wasn't working to do anything...not even to stop the wound from bleeding. He sat Raven up, leaning him against the wall. He untied his scarf and wrapped it around the wounds to keep them from getting infected. The punctures on his neck had oozing scabs, but at least they were protected better than the open ones on Raven.

Raven watched Atherin wrap his side. "T-thanks..." he said, trying to even his breathing. He felt extremely strange; something about Driacoul's fangs was... different. Atherin looked around. He couldn't do anything to ease the pain or Raven's breathing. The metal bars looked weak enough to break...but he knew that if he were to do that then the bats would go warn Driacoul... He wasn't a 'healer' like Tyme was so couldn't really 'see' what was wrong with Raven. He tried to remember if there was anything about Driacoul's attacks mentioned in the legends. One fragmented word caught his attention. 'Enzyme....' "....It's....some sort of enzyme....but....I don't know what it does exactly...."

Raven looked over at Atherin. "An...enzyme?" "....That's what the book said....at least the vampire one.... I couldn't read the human one... But...if it is an 'enzyme'...then...I would assume that...." Atherin trailed off. "That what, Atherin?" Raven asked, getting concerned.

"...Well...enzymes...are found in....stomach acid.... so.... If this 'enzyme' is like that then....it's....digesting you....alive...." Atherin answered quietly. Raven stared at him. "W-what?!"

"...Calm down.... Panicking won't help.... I'm trying to remember what the book said about it.... And....I don't know if I can slow it down...but...I can try...." "How am I supposed to keep calm after you told me that?!"

"Raven! Please! I'm trying my best to remember if there's a way to get rid of it!" Atherin pleaded, holding onto Raven's shoulders to keep him from moving around to much. Raven swallowed and didn't say anything else. He tried to calm down, but his breathing was still fast and uneasy. He was scared about what Atherin had told him.

Atherin racked his mind to try and think of a way to get rid of the enzyme. He figured that this was the torture that they had planned to put them through to get them to talk, Raven's life in exchange for the whereabouts of the 'Demonsbane'. It wouldn't work....he wouldn't talk and he knew that Raven wouldn't talk either...as both were very aware of the fact that as soon as they talked, they were dead. Raven put his hand over the punctures. They were starting to feel weird... he figured it was the enzyme. He groaned and put pressure on the punctures, trying to stop the enzymes from spreading any further.

Nothing... The text that was supposed to explain about the enzyme had been damaged beyond comprehension. Atherin couldn't do anything to stop the enzyme and the only people that could were else where. But...he'd do what he could if he felt that Raven was getting worse. Raven closed his eyes and tried to even his breathing. The weird feeling was spreading, and the punctures were starting to sting. He tried to not think about what was happening, not wanting to panic again.

"...I'm...I'm...gonna try a scan....like Tyme does... I might...be able to 'see' how far the enzyme's spread.... And....estimate how much longer....it'll take....to...to...." Atherin couldn't finish his sentence.

"... kill me?" Raven finished for him, knowing that was what he was thinking. Atherin nodded. He wasn't anywhere near Tyme's level of 'healing' but he was more proficient in it then his sister Ryoko was. "...Just...hold still.... I'm gonna try a scan..." Atherin replied, his eyes had a slight golden rim around them, but that was advanced as his healing ability would go. Raven nodded and stayed as still as could. He didn't want to spread the enzyme any further than he already had.

Atherin could see the differentiation from the enzyme as it spread through his body. It was slowly moving and slowly eating away at Raven's tissues. He had....two and a half hours...he guessed...if he didn't move much... He wanted to try something...to increase that extremely short time limit. Pressing his left index and middle finger where the enzyme was he tried to make the energy he had previously transferred into him, make some sort of barrier to keep it from spreading and causing damage to the area it was trapped in. It seemed to be working. It stopped spreading...and the area that it was contained in wasn't being damaged any more…

Raven looked up at Atherin. "Thanks..." he said quietly, feeling a little better. Atherin frowned, his eyes narrowed. "...Sorry... It....didn't work.... So long as you don't move too much....you have about two and a half hours...." Atherin said quietly, the gold rim disappearing from his eyes. The barrier he had tried to make broke, his 'healing' not strong enough to contain it. Raven sighed. "It's alright... you did what you could..."

Atherin sighed as well. He couldn't do anything to save Raven from this. He suddenly looked to the window. "...'She's'....made it back.... 'He' has 'It' now... But...they still can't locate us..." "That's good..." Raven said, leaning his head back and closing his eyes, "I just hope... they find us in t-time..." "....Me too...." Atherin replied. It was good news that the 'Demonsbane' was in Tyme's hands. Now...all that they needed was to be found by them before Raven died and he was killed next.

Raven groaned and clutched at his side, feeling a sharp stab of pain. It was getting worse; the enzyme spreading. He just hoped that Tyme and everyone reached them in time... Atherin looked over to Raven in worry. Every second that ticked by brought him a step closer to death's door. He still had his blood that he could use to keep him from dying, but...he wasn't sure it would rid his body of the enzyme...as it wasn't a poison...at least he didn't think it was...

Raven groaned and wrapped his arms around his stomach. It had spread even more, and he could feel it killing him. He didn't look over at Atherin, not wanting to stress him with his worsening condition. Atherin narrowed his eyes at Raven's worsening condition. He sat next to Raven, wondering if he would take his blood again to keep death from closing in on him. Raven didn't look up at Atherin, his eyes squeezed shut, trying to block out the pain. He didn't wait for Raven's answer or protest. He made a small cut on his wrist and forced his blood into Raven's mouth.

Rave pushed Atherin's arm away and spit the blood from his mouth. "Eve damnit Atherin! Why do you keep doing that?!" "To keep you from dying. In case you've forgotten, my blood puts a stop to death. It'll keep you alive until they find us." Atherin answered calmly.

"I told you to save your strength!" "And I told you I wasn't going back alone." Atherin replied, stopping the flow of blood from his small cut. "Well... you just might..." Raven muttered to himself, closing his eyes again. "....Don't say that.... I don't know how...but....we'll get out of this....alive..." Atherin replied quietly. "Yeah... I hope..."

About an hour passed, leaving Raven with only an hour and a half left. Atherin was trying to help Tyme locate them, by sending out mental waves, but Tyme had yet to find them. He could sense Raven's condition getting worse, and he was powerless to stop it. He was waiting for Driacoul to come back and start his 'interrogation' again... Raven was shaking slightly, the enzyme having spread into his vital organs. He coughed weakly, wiping away the blood that came out of his mouth. He was having difficulty breathing, and even though he wasn't moving he could feel the enzyme spreading...

Atherin took notice of Raven's slight shaking due to the enzyme. He wasn't moving too much, which was bad...but a little good at the same time as he wouldn't be able to push him away. He cut his wrist again, and, as Raven couldn't stop him, pressed his wrist to Raven's mouth again, and waited for him to swallow... Raven couldn't push him away and he wasn't going to force him to swallow, knowing that it made Raven uncomfortable. Raven knew he couldn't push Atherin away, so he didn't fight. He swallowed reluctantly, shuddering in disgust.

Atherin still didn't remove his wrist. He knew that one swallow wouldn't cut it to ease the pain and keep Raven from death. He'd be fine, normally when he does this; he's bleeding from multiple gashes and fighting to keep his instincts in check. Raven swallowed a few more times before he managed to push Atherin away.

Atherin applied pressure to the small cut to get it to stop bleeding. "....Do you feel any better...?" He asked quietly. Raven wiped the blood from his mouth. "A-a little..."

"...I think...I was able to extend the time a little....though....not by much...." Atherin said. Things were starting to look even bleaker for them. Raven had about an hour and forty-five minutes left and he couldn't get a hold of Tyme any more. He was getting even more worried than he already was...

"Great... I still have a-an expiration time..." Raven joked dryly. "...It's not funny..." Atherin replied. "I-I know... but for the l-love of Eve, I had to d-do _something_ to l-lighten the mood..." Raven said, smirking slightly. "...Not even death's door will keep you from joking about it will it?" "Nope..." Raven said, his smirk widening a little. "...You're impossible...." Atherin said, smirking as well. "So?" Raven said, managing to punch him in the arm.

"You're lucky you're dying....or I'd hurt you..." Raven smirked. "Yeah... you can't hurt me or y-you'd feel bad. Ha, I've got a f-free pass..." "...At least until we're back with the others.... After that, you're fair game again." "Joy... but... I'm gonna enjoy every m-minute of m-my free pass..." "...You better....as it won't last long..."

"Ah shut up Dracula..." Raven said, struggling to punch him in the arm again. "...Stop wasting what energy you have left.... You're gonna need it..." "What d-do you know?" Raven joked, smirking. "...Quiet you. I'm not the one dying..." Atherin growled out. "Now d-don't bring that m-minor setback up a-again..." Raven replied, smirking.

"....Zip it. Since _you_ don't seem to care for your health someone has too..." Atherin replied, and before Raven could say something back Atherin made another remark. "...Besides...you _are_ my human.... I don't want to drink your blood when you're sick..."

Raven opened his mouth to respond, but a noise from the hall cut him off. He looked up, and Draicoul was standing at the door to their cell, in human form. "Hmm... so I guess Rika's hunch was correct..." he mused aloud, leaning against the frame of the door, "... Raven is just a host to you..." he said, smirking, exposing his fangs.

Atherin narrowed his eyes at Driacoul, he knew that he was just trying to anger him, which was starting to work at that comment, as he was trying to get Raven to doubt him. He wasn't going to talk about 'It', but he wasn't going to stand a remark like that, especially when it wasn't true. "He's not a host to me." Atherin replied, dangerously low.

"Oh really?" Draicoul smirked, "But those fang marks on his neck say otherwise..." "You can say whatever you want to try and under mind me, but I'll tell you again. He's not a host to me." Draicoul smirked. "Sure, sure... but tell me this... if he isn't a host to you, then why is he covered in _your_ fang marks?"

"He wouldn't be if _your_ damn son just left us alone instead of attacking us every over fricken' day!" Draicoul chuckled dryly. "Oh come now... my son has nothing to do with your lack of control..."

Atherin new Driacoul was trying to get him riled up, and it would be working...if Atherin hadn't of decided to calm down, to stop himself from proving Driacoul right. He glared at Driacoul, but remained silent. He wasn't going to let him get him riled up any more to make a mistake. He knew that he was basically dooming himself to his taunting and 'See Raven? Even he admits it's.' He wasn't going to fall into his trap any more.

Driacoul's smirk widened. "No response? No comeback? You just proved my point true..." Atherin remained silent. He wasn't going to play into Driacoul's trap any more. He hoped that Raven didn't believe the demon, he doubted that he would, but there was always the possibility...especially with the recent turn of events between them...

Raven looked at Atherin. He wasn't sure who to believe at this point. Draicoul just looked on, smirking. "Come, come... tell your 'host' the truth Atherin. You aren't his 'friend'; he's just an easy meal to you. Rika's heard you say it herself..."

Atherin looked back at Raven, not caring that Driacoul was there. "Raven, you _are_ my friend. He's just trying to pit us against the other." Raven looked at Atherin a little skeptically. Driacoul's smirk widened further. "Friend huh? Tell me Atherin, if you two are 'friends', then why is he covered in scars from _your_ fangs and claws?"

Atherin didn't hear Driacoul's taunt. He was still looking at Raven, extremely hurt that he would really doubt that they were friends. "...You...don't believe me...." Draicoul laughed. "Well, well... seems even Raven agrees with me... he _is_ nothing but a host to you..."

"That's not true! He isn't a host to me! He's my friend!" Atherin said, rounding back to Driacoul. At least he hoped that Raven still saw him as a friend... "Those bite marks say otherwise..." Draicoul replied, "... and Rabe told me that you tried to eat Raven! If you are his 'friend', then why did you try to 'eat' him?!"

"It was an accident... I never wanted to hurt him...." Atherin could tell that he was losing this battle. He was close to a mental breakdown, as Raven had yet to say anything to him, and the look he had received earlier told him that Raven didn't believe him...at all... Draicoul scoffed. "Keep telling yourself that Atherin..." he sneered, "... that still won't make Raven's wounds heal..." he said sharply, smirking cruelly.

Atherin almost flinch. He knew he had done awful things to Raven that he never meant to do. It was still a surprise to him that Raven had still trusted him and stood up for him after he had 'attacked' him the first time. It was even more so after he had learned the truth and 'attacked' a second time....

Driacoul's smirked widened. "It's a wonder Raven is still alive. Especially with you constantly 'feeding' off of him like a parasite. And now with your brother around, I'm sure it won't be long 'til he's sucked dry and dies..." he said, his smirk broadening further. Driacoul was basically saying everything out loud that Atherin had been feeling recently. Though, he begged to differ about sucking Raven dry. He wasn't going to do that to him, and he knew that Tyme wouldn't bite him again, not even if Raven offered.

Raven looked over at Atherin, worry and fear clearly apparent in his eyes. Draicoul crossed his arms, still wearing his smug smirk. "Come Atherin... I _know_ you've thought of draining Raven at least once... I can see it in your eyes... don't try and lie to yourself or Raven..."

".....Just....once....when we first met.... His attitude towards me....nearly made me listen to my instincts.....but I didn't....and that thought hasn't crossed my mind ever since." Atherin answered truthfully. Raven couldn't possibly think that _that_ thought really hadn't of crossed his mind...

Raven lowered his gaze a little. He knew that Atherin had probably thought of draining him, but actually hearing him say it freaked him out a little. He drew his legs up to his chest, hiding his gaze. Draicoul's smirk broadened further. "If I am correct... Raven has less than an hour left... I suggest that you tell us what we want to know, or let your 'friend' die a slow death..." he said smoothly, before he vanished into the floor.

Atherin knew that as soon as he talked, both he and Raven would die. They'd let Raven die the slow agonizing death, and he'd be taken to Rika and Rabe to be mutilated to their hearts' content before being used to feed their children. There was no reason to say anything knowing that. However, he didn't know what to say to Raven.... He was pretty sure that Raven would never speak to him again....

Raven looked up, making sure Draicoul was gone. He turned to Atherin. "A-Atherin... are you al-right?" Atherin's head was down; he couldn't bring himself to look at Raven when he spoke to him. ".....don't know....." Raven grew concerned when Atherin didn't look up at him. "A-Atherin... c'mon... s-say something..."

"....You don't....believe me though..... That....really hurts...." "Atherin... I believe you..." Raven said, "Y-you don't think... I d-don't trust you, d-do you?"

"...Then...why didn't you...say so before....? When I told you that he...was lying.... You just....gave me a look that said....you didn't believe me...." Atherin answered, still not looking up at Raven. "I was c-confused... I w-wasn't thinking straight..." Raven said quietly, looking down. "....Even so....it still hurt.... ...You didn't....even try to....stand up for me.... I thought....you really believed him...."

"I'm s-sorry Atherin..." Raven said quietly, not lifting his gaze. Atherin wasn't sure how to respond. Even if Raven was confused as to what was going on, the look that he had given him would take a lot of time to get out of his mind. Raven lifted his gaze to respond, but groaned suddenly, clutching at his stomach. He squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth; the enzyme having spread into his vital organs.

Atherin's head snapped up and he was by Raven's side as soon he felt his pain. As he was about to get try and stop Raven from dying a sudden mental message scrolled across his mind. He shook his head slightly when the message ended as it was fast and hurriedly sent, but he got the gist of it. "They've found us.... Hopefully Tyme'll get to us before you die..." Atherin said as he made another small cut on his wrist, trying to get Raven to just accept it and not have to fight with him. Raven weakly pushed Atherin away. "I-I'm f-ine..."

"No. You're not. I'm not gonna fight with you on this. There's no telling how long it'll take for him to get here and get us back to the Whale King...." Atherin responded, once again trying to get Raven to just accept the fact that he wasn't going to just let him push him away. Raven sighed and let Atherin do what he wanted.

When he was sure that Raven wouldn't die on him within the next fifteen minutes did he try to locate where Tyme was. Tyme had his mind blocked to him, which he could understand...considering what he was...wielding.... "...Tyme'll be here in a few minutes..... From what I can tell...he's hurt Rabe somewhat...though I don't know how badly...."

"G-good..." Raven said quietly, having a hard time breathing. He coughed weakly, and wiped away the dark blood that leaked from his mouth. Atherin couldn't do much more until Tyme got to them. He could sense him getting closer to them, but the thing that was starting to worry him was the fact that Draicoul hadn't used them against him...their lives in exchange for the 'Demonsbane'. He hoped that it didn't come to that as Raven didn't have much time left. Raven brought his legs up to his chest again, groaning weakly. He was in severe pain, and getting weaker. He coughed, spitting out dark blood. He didn't know how long he had left, but he figured he didn't have much...

Atherin could hear footsteps thudding down the corridor. "Atherin!? Raven!? Where are you!?" It was Tyme. "We're down here Tyme! Hurry! Raven's in need of your 'healing'!" Tyme raced down to their cell. He didn't even bother to mess with the doors as he just cleaved through the metal bars with his claws like they were made of paper. The 'Demonsbane' was in his left hand, it's scabbard on his back. "What's wrong with him?" He asked as he handed the hilt of the sword to Atherin. "...Driacoul....injected an enzyme in him...it's been eating him alive for the past two and a half hours.... I couldn't do anything to stop it...." Atherin answered, making sure to not touch the blade. Tyme entered his 'healer' mode, and did what he could to start repairing the damaged tissue. After a few minutes he had done all that he could to keep him alive until they got him back to the whale king. "Alright Atherin... You're gonna have to carry the 'Demonsbane'. I'll have to carry Raven back." He said as he picked Raven up, bridal style, regardless of Raven's weak protest at it. Raven groaned and struggled weakly. "P-put me... down!"

"I don't think so. You can barely struggle against me let alone keep up with us." Tyme answered as he made sure that they were safe to start moving again. When he was sure that they were all clear he signaled for Atherin to follow closely beside him. They ran down the corridors, much faster than Raven would have been able to keep up with.

There was a noise further down the hallway, making both Tyme and Atherin come to a halt, thinking it was Draicoul or one of the pair. Atherin readied for combat while Tyme made sure to keep Raven protected and that they didn't sneak up behind them. They waited anxiously for who ever was down the hallway to show themselves.

Avea walked down the hallway, hugging Ligie. She looked up, and froze when she saw Tyme and the 'Demonsbane' in Atherin's hands. She whined and stepped back, her eyes beginning to tear up in fear. Atherin lowered the 'Demonsbane' and relaxed slightly, he wasn't going to attack a child. Tyme also relaxed a little, but still made sure that nothing snuck up behind them. "...Avea...what're you doing down here?"

"I-I was looking... for you..." she said quietly, still looking at the Demonsbane. Atherin saw her gaze still lingering on the 'Demonsbane'. He could understand her fear of the thing, but he couldn't put it down least it gets used against him. He lowered the sword a little more so the blade tip was almost touching the floor. "....Looking for us....? But...why...? And...I'm not gonna use this on you...." Atherin said indicating the sword.

"I-I just wanted to... see you..." she said, hugging Ligie tighter. "....Avea....as much as I like to see you too we're....in a hurry... Raven's dying...and we need to get him back to our medical center...." Atherin said, a little unsure of how Avea would react. Avea cocked her head and transformed back into an Organoid. "Can I come?" she asked excitedly.

Needless to say, all three boys were a little taken aback at this question. Tyme was a little shocked when the little girl transformed into an Organoid, but didn't feel threatened by her. She wasn't bad, he could tell that much, but her being with them would cause....even more...future problems... He'd leave it to Atherin and Raven as they kind of knew her it seemed. Atherin was thinking along the same lines as Tyme was when it came to the future problems, but....he didn't see what was wrong with her coming with them...though....he didn't want to make the decision on his own so he looked to Raven, wondering what he thought about it.

Raven shrugged. He didn't mind what Atherin chose. He honestly was in too much pain at the moment to care. After seeing that Raven didn't care either way he turned back to Avea. "...Alright Avea... You can come with us....but.... You won't be seeing your momma and daddy again....at least...not on good terms with us...."

"That's okay... I hardly see them anyway..." Avea said, fluttering her wings and hugging Ligie. Atherin nodded and went to Avea, Tyme following behind him. "Come on then. We need to get out of here quickly." Atherin said, bending down, opening his free arm to hold her while they ran. Avea jumped up and let him hold her. She held on to Ligie, purring loudly. Atherin stood back up, making sure he had a good hold on Avea. He turned to Tyme to lead the way. He did, and Atherin ran after him. Soon enough Atherin could see daylight again. They were getting close to the whale king.

Before they could escape the base, Draicoul reappeared. He blocked their exit, Rabe flanking him. They hissed at them, preventing them from escaping. Atherin knew that Tyme was, by far, the better fighter. But...as both had their hands full neither could really use the 'Demonsbane' to fend their pursuers off. Their only chance of escape would be to surprise them somehow, and then make a mad dash to the Whale King. Tyme shifted Raven so he was more or less being held in his left arm while Atherin shifted Avea to his right arm. In unison, they lifted their free hand, both preparing their aligned element to make an explosion/distraction so then they could escape.

Rabe was...acquainted...with Atherin's fire ability, so he thought that Tyme had the same thing, but more powerful. He had told Driacoul about it, so both were preparing themselves for what they thought would be some sort of super dragon like flame. They were wrong and confused when Tyme's hand was forming a small green sphere with purple sparks snapping around it, but unsurprised with Atherin's small red flame that appeared. Atherin shot his off first and then Tyme's followed after...as soon as it caught up to the flame element, the flames grew ten times bigger and hotter, and the purple sparks swirled around it. It was coming right towards them; they dodged it, unknowing that it was just a cover for Atherin and Tyme to run behind. While Rabe and Driacoul shielded themselves from the heat Atherin and Tyme ran past them and onto the waiting Whale King.

Rabe realized it was a diversion. "Draicoul, they're escaping!" he roared, chasing after them. Draicoul hissed and shot after them as well. But Tyme and Atherin were already safely on the Whale King.

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_**Author's Note:**_ Yay!! They were rescued!! ^^ But Raven's still in pretty bad shape physically…while Atherin's suffering mentally, even if he isn't showing it. The question is though, will they recover? You'll just have to wait and find out!! Please Review!!


	24. Healing and Respite

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do __**NOT**__ own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul, Rika and Avea do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME.**__ The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if Redai is used without my permission, however, if you use Jurei please make note of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ Here we are! Chapter 24!! Last chapter Atherin and Raven were tortured by Driacoul. Raven had to endure being eaten alive by Driacoul's enzyme and Atherin had to endure mental torture. Luckily for them, however, Tyme showed up and rescued them!! ^^ But Raven's still in danger of the enzyme and who knows what Atherin's thinking or feeling at the moment… You'll just have to wait and fine out!!

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Ͽ Healing and Respite Ͼ

The Whale King took off as soon as they were on board. Atherin dropped the 'Demonsbane', not really wanting anything more to do with it until they needed it again. Tyme set Raven down on a nearby couch and rechecked him, every once and a while repairing some damaged tissue until Ibeyla could fix it. After Tyme was done repairing as much as he could he tossed the scabbard over to Atherin, who deftly caught it and took the hint to put 'It' away. He set Avea down and recollected the sword, with much disdain.

Raven coughed again, dark blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. He tried to get up, but it hurt too much. He felt like he had swallowed acid, and he could feel the enzymes eating away at him. He couldn't remember being in this much pain before. "Atherin, go find Ibeyla, I'll stay here and try to keep his condition from deteriorating any more." Tyme said as he, once again, tried to repair the damaged tissues. Atherin nodded and went to look for Ibeyla; Avea had transformed back into her human form and was silently pleading to be picked up while he searched. He picked her up and went on his way to look for Ibeyla. Ibeyla was in the cockpit with Donnie. She had no idea what was happening to Raven.

The first place that Atherin wanted to check was the cockpit. It was one of the larger areas and not only could she help Donnie with keeping an eye out on the radars, but it just seemed like the most logical place to start looking. He reached it within seven or so minutes, and he immediately found Ibeyla. "....Ibeyla! You're needed down in the in the lower living level."

Ibeyla turned to look at him. "Hmm?" she hummed, but worried upon seeing his expression. She and Obscura got up and walked out of the cockpit with him and the child he was holding. "What's wrong?" she asked quietly, worrying. "And... who's this?" she motioned to the girl.

"....Raven's...dying.... There's three Vareix that're after us now... Rabe, his mate Rika...and...Driacoul, the one from the legend that we found in Proto... He bit Raven...and I guess there's some sort of enzyme that he injected into him...it's been slowly eating him alive for the past two and a half hours. I did what I could to stop it, but that wasn't much... Tyme's with him now trying to repair the damage." Atherin explained. "And this...this is Avea...."

Ibeyla stared at Atherin in horror. "Dear Eve..." she muttered, "W-where is he?" "Down in the lower living level, Tyme's with him now..." Atherin replied quietly. "How... bad is he?" Ibeyla asked softly, briefly ignoring Avea.

"...If Tyme were to stop repairing the damage...he'd die within ten...fifteen minutes tops..." Atherin answered quietly as well. "How far have the enzymes spread?" Ibeyla asked in worry, unsure if she could save him.

"...I'm sure they've hit some vitals...but Tyme has most likely repaired those by now and is making sure they stay in a good condition until you can get to him. Other than that...I don't know..."

"Is he coughing up blood?" she asked, beginning to walk towards where they had Raven. "...Yes....it's been on and off coughing for about an hour now..." Ibeyla paled. "That's... not good..." she said softly, "And the blood... was it dark and thick? Not bright like normal blood?"

"....Yeah...." Atherin answered quietly. He had the horrible feeling that they might be too late to save him... Ibeyla stared. "That's... very bad..." she said quietly, "That means... the enzyme has gotten into his blood... its breaking down his blood, and gotten into his lungs... and..." she trailed off.

Atherin paled. He couldn't do anything to help him. He could only sit and wait...which he hated doing.... "We have to hurry... where is he again?" "The lower living level." Atherin repeated. "Okay... and... why wasn't Tyme able to heal him fully? Like before?"

"...He's trying.... He's repairing the heavily damaged areas so then they won't be useless.... I don't know if he tried what I had tried or not...but...there's a possibility that he got it to stop spreading.... I'm also sure he's made Raven drink his blood to keep him alive while he works and waits for you to help him...."

Ibeyla sighed. "That won't keep him alive for ever... I can't even imagine the pain he must be in..." she said quietly, getting increasingly worried. Atherin only nodded. He had no idea the amount of pain he was in either, but he could fancy a guess. They soon reached the lower level. Tyme was still in his 'healer' mode, doing everything he could to repair the damage.

Raven looked up when they walked in. He couldn't move much at all anymore, and was having problems breathing. Blood continued to leak from the corner of his mouth. "Atherin... y-you took your s-sweet time..." he joked, smirking slightly.

"...If this doesn't kill you then I just might..." Atherin shot back. He'd humor Raven, just to make sure he kept at ease as much as he could while Tyme and Ibeyla worked on him. Raven laughed weakly, and managed to throw a pillow at him. "I d-dare you to... t-to try..." he said, smirking again. Ibeyla ran over to him, and pulled out her medicine. She gave some to him, hoping it would reverse the damage. "I said 'might'...not 'will'. Atherin shot back, having caught the pillow with ease. He walked over to where he was and sat down on the floor.

Ibeyla closed her eyes and put her hand on Raven's chest, listening. By his heartbeat, she could tell the enzyme had spread to all his organs and throughout most of his body. "He's... not good..." she said quietly, withdrawing her hand.

"...But...you can help him....can't you...? You said your necklace can cure anything...." Atherin asked, now looking over to Ibeyla. Tyme had yet to revert to normal, doing all that he could to keep Raven from dying as he wasn't going to give up on it.

"I can try..." she said, unclasping her necklace and wrapping it around Raven's wrist."My necklace will keep the enzyme from spreading any further, and the medicine will neutralize it and repair the damage. It should also repair and replace his damaged blood cells. But... we won't know if he'll survive for a few hours..." Ibeyla said, "... I'm going to fill Donnie in... Obscura will stay with you guys. If he gets any worse, just send her to get me-" she was cut off as Shadow rushed past her and Atherin, standing over Raven.

Atherin moved out of the way of being trampled by Shadow. He held Avea as he moved so she wasn't hurt as well. All that they could do now was wait and see how he'd be in a few hours. Waiting wasn't something he liked to do...it made him feel useless... Ibeyla went back upstairs and Raven pushed Shadow away. "I'm fine..." he groaned, managing to sit up. Avea held onto Ligie and transformed into her true form. She spread her wings and flapped them happily, chirping softly.

Atherin absentmindedly caressed Avea. "....Just don't move around too much Raven... You're not out of the clear yet." Raven snickered quietly. "Y-you mean... not out of t-the w-woods, right?" Atherin growled. "It's not my fault that 'woods' translates pretty close to our word 'clear'." Raven laughed quietly. "Well... s-sorry!" he rolled his eyes, "N-no need to g-growl at me!"

"You're lucky that's _all_ I'm doing.... At least 'til you're better...." Atherin smirked. "S-sure..." Raven said, rolling his eyes disbelievingly. "You're still on your free pass...but as soon as you're better you're fair game again..."

"Y-yeah I know... and I'm enjoying e-every moment of it..." Raven smirked. "Enjoy it while it lasts...." Atherin replied. He knew that Raven would use it to his advantage and Raven also knew that he wouldn't be his normal smart ass self...as he would feel bad about hurting him if he did that. He couldn't wait for the 'free pass' to be gotten rid of from his body. "Oh don't w-worry... I will...." Raven smirked.

Atherin sighed. He _really_ couldn't wait for the enzyme to be rid of from his body. Not just because of the fact that he couldn't tease him...too much....but also because he wanted to make sure he didn't die on them. "W-what's with that look?" Raven said, crossing his arms, "Y-you expecting me to just fall o-over and die?"

"...No...you're too stubborn to just do that...." "G-got that right..." Raven replied, "A-and besides... if I d-die... I c-can't annoy you any-more...." Atherin raised an eyebrow at Raven. "Don't you have that statement....backwards? If you die then _'I'_ can't annoy you any more." Raven rolled his eyes. "S-sure Atherin..." Atherin just scoffed, he knew he was right...to a certain degree, but decided not to press the matter.

Avea got up and climbed onto Atherin's shoulder. She clung to him with her tiny golden claws and looked at Raven worriedly with her pale amethyst eyes. She turned to Atherin and purred, licking his cheek. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah...I'm feeling alright..." Atherin answered Avea as he scratched behind her head. Tyme had gone off somewhere while he and Raven had been talking and had now returned with water for Raven and the sweet juice for Atherin. "Here you two... You'll need to keep your body fluids up, and I still have to check your wounds out Atherin." He said as he had spied the punctures on him earlier, but Raven's condition came first.

Raven took the water and sipped it. Even though he was thirsty, he was mindful of the fact that the enzyme had severely damaged his tissues. He could feel the punctures on his side, they still stung, but the pain was slowly starting to fade. He undid Atherin's scarf from the punctures and handed it back to him. "H-here... Atherin... and t-thanks..."

"Don't mention it... Though you should have kept it tied there until someone came with a medical kit... It looks like not even Tyme could seal them up...." Atherin said as he placed his scarf beside him. It was bloody from his puncture wounds and Raven's wounds, and dirty from where it had been on the ground when he had wrapped it around Raven to keep him from getting an infection.

Tyme came over to him and first inspected the back of his head where he still had a slight concussion. He used his own energy transfer to seal up the wound, before he inspected the punctures on his neck. His family was the only people he didn't mind touching it, so he didn't panic when Tyme pushed his head to the side to get a better look at the wounds. Tyme tried an energy transfer on them to try and seal them, but they wouldn't seal either. He narrowed his eyes. "I'll be back shortly. Not only does Raven need the medical kit but you do too... I can't get these punctures to seal either." He said as he got up and left again.

Raven looked up at Atherin. "Why c-can't he get them to s-seal?" he asked. "...I don't know... I couldn't get yours to seal either... I thought it was just my lack of 'healing' abilities...." Atherin answered. Raven shrugged. Avea shifted on Atherin's shoulder, looking at the punctures on his neck. "I can heal those... if you want..."

Atherin shook his head vehemently. He didn't like anyone near his neck, unless it was his family. He'd just let them heal on their own. Avea blinked. "Please? It won't hurt..."

"...No... I'll live..." "Please, Atherin? I don't even have to touch you!" she said, wagging her tail. "..... Alright...." Avea wagged her tail happily and arched around to look at the wounds. She held her arms out, so that her hands were a few centimeters above the punctures. Her hands and claws began to glow a faint green, and the wounds closed and healed in seconds.

"Thanks Avea... Are you also able to do the same for Raven?" Avea looked over at the large punctures on Raven's side. "I... don't think I can... those are much bigger... and I haven't tried healing that big a wound..."

"...Perhaps if you worked with me or Tyme we'd be able to seal them...." Atherin mused to himself. Avea smiled. "Okay! I can try!" Atherin sat on the couch next to Raven. "Alright Avea...let's see if can get these to seal..." Atherin said as he placed his hand near the wounds, a soft green light radiating from his palm. Avea put her green-glowing clawed hands next to Atherin's, trying to help heal her new friend.

Atherin watched as the puncture wounds slowly started to seal up. Sealing them was taking a lot more energy than he had anticipated, but he was learning, as he had entered his slight 'healer' mode. He thought it would not only improve the chances of them being able to seal the wounds, but he could also learn and tell Tyme about it later. Raven could feel his wounds sealing. He knew that with those punctures sealed, he'd have a better chance of surviving. Avea continued to aid Atherin, hoping that they could fully seal the wounds.

After another five minutes of using his energy transfer on its maximum capacity, did the wounds finally seal themselves. Atherin was exhausted. He had nearly used three fourths of his energy trying to get it to seal, but it was sealed, and that was what was important. Raven took a deep breath, feeling much better after that. "Thanks..." he said, able to breathe normally. Avea climbed back onto Atherin's shoulder and licked his cheek. "We did it!"

"...D-Don't mention it...." He replied tiredly to Raven. His body felt sore, not use to using that much energy just to seal something. Raven looked at Atherin in worry. "Are you a-alright?" "...Just tired...is all... I'm not use to....using so much energy to seal...something up...."

"Well, thanks for it..." Raven said, "And thanks too, Avea..." he said, and the hatchling chirped happily. "And Atherin... s-sorry about getting b-blood all over your scarf..." "Eh? Don't worry about it. I got it bloody too... Besides....it's been through worse..."

Raven nodded. "Just don't let m-me catch you chewing on that s-scarf..." he joked, smirking slightly. "Bleh...with what's going through your veins, I won't be biting you anytime soon. I don't want that stuff in my system..." Raven smirked. "G-good... I don't want y-you biting me anytime s-soon either..."

"...Besides...that enzyme makes your blood smell...unappetizing...." "At least you w-won't be b-biting me..." Raven said, "B-but... w-what if you DO get 'hungry'?"

"Then I'll ask Karl... He's let me before." "H-he has?" Raven asked, blinking in confusion. "When we were recovering from Rabe's attack, I asked, and he let me." Atherin explained. "Really? I d-didn't think he w-would..."

"...I think it had to do with the fact that you were out of commission and Ibeyla was needed for our medical attention.... But...I believe he wouldn't mind if I were to ask again..." "Really? You h-honestly think he would?"

"He took it a lot better than _you_ did, honestly." Raven rolled his eyes. "Hey, don't s-start that with me! I was a little w-worried that you w-wouldn't be gentle after that s-stunt at the inn!"

"You're the one that just _asked_ for me to scare the living hell out of you." Atherin replied. He could hear Tyme returning. He'd be sure to give him the information that he had learned while sealing Raven's wounds.

"So? D-doesn't mean y-you _had_ too..." Raven shot back, closing his eyes. "I think my actions were justified by the way you had been treating me that night." Atherin responded. "Still... you can't blame me a-about being a _little_ worried about l-letting you bite me and d-drink my blood..."

"No...I can't. And I had fully expected you to pull away or something the first time... So...I was a little surprised when you didn't..." "I was a l-little concerned with your fangs tearing my w-wrist open, and either me b-bleeding to death or you a-attacking Ibeyla and me..."

"...Hmm... I guess....it's because you had a level head on...and didn't start panicking...at least not enough to make you do something rash..." "Yeah... I figured if I-I panicked or started struggling, you'd go into a b-bloodlust and kill the two of us..." "....At that time...it would have been a good possibility...." "Really? I d-didn't realize it..."

"...It was because I didn't know where you stood with me.... Did you see me as a monster...like most people do? Could I trust you and not have my trust betrayed? ...There were a lot of things that were still unclear at the time...." "Yeah... well not anymore... right?" "Not anymore. You don't have to worry about it." "Good..." Raven said, leaning back against the couch.

Tyme had finally returned. It seemed that someone had stopped him for some reason. He walked over to where they were and looked them over. Their wounds were sealed, that much he could tell, but Atherin looked exhausted while Raven looked better than when he had left. "Alright...what happened while I was gone?" He asked, setting the med. kit down. Raven pointed to Atherin and Avea. "They did it..."

"...Why're you complaining about it? You're wounds have been sealed..." "I'm not..." Raven said, crossing his arms again. "That still doesn't explain what happened." Tyme said looking at the two. "Avea healed the ones on my neck, but because the one's on Raven were much bigger than mine, we tried to work together to seal them. I'll give you all the details later... I'm too tired too at the moment...." "Yeah... Avea apparently has healing abilities..."

"Well...another person that can heal is always good to have around...especially with the way you two get hurt..." Raven smirked and tossed his remaining pillow at Tyme. Tyme didn't even bother to catch the pillow...it just went through him.... His speed made it easy for an after image to form. He chuckled lightly. "Seems that you'll make a full recovery eventually."

Raven blinked in shock and stared. "Since when can you do that?!" "Since always. There's still a lot of things you don't know about me...and possibly Atherin too..." Tyme answered. "Just be thankful that he didn't throw it back at you..." Atherin said. Raven nodded. "Tyme... could I have my pillow back? I-I won't through it at you a-again..." he asked.

Tyme chuckled lightly, but picked his pillow back up. He tossed it back to him, Raven thinking that it'd be with as much force as he had the other day when Atherin had thrown a pillow at him. Raven caught the pillow, honestly expecting him to have thrown it. But moving to catch it made him yelp in pain; his body still extremely sensitive.

"You didn't have to move to catch it and put yourself in pain. It would have landed on your lap." Tyme said as he walked over to where Raven was sitting and kneeled down in front on him. ".....No more moving like that for a couple of hours. You'll be hurting for a while..."

"I k-know..." Raven groaned, "It w-was just a... reflex... a-after all... I'm u-used to d-defending my-self from A-Atherin, 'cuz he t-throws them b-back hard..." "I wouldn't throw them back hard in your condition, knowing that moving hurts you too much." Atherin defended.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Sure Dracula..." It's true though. I saw how badly the enzyme hurt you...." "Yeah, yeah..." Raven muttered.

Tyme shoved something into Atherin's hands. He looked and saw the juice that he had yet to open. "You're gonna need to drink that..." Atherin got his underlying message and did as he was told, taking small sips so then he wouldn't spill any on himself. Raven took a few more sips of his water, knowing his body needed it. He looked over at Atherin. "H-how are you... feeling?"

"Tired...sore...and possibly cranky..." Raven rolled his eyes. "Just w-what I need... a c-cranky va-vampire..." Atherin choose not to respond as he took another drink from his juice. It was helping him, he'd just have to be careful the next couple of days...

Raven took a few more sips of water. He could still feel the enzyme eating away at him, but it wasn't as severe. The medicine was slowly working, but it was working. He took a few more sips, before Avea glided over to him. "Hello Raven!" she chirped. Raven stroked her, and she cooed. "Hey Atherin... what a-are we gonna d-do about... A-Avea?"

"....I don't know honestly.... She wanted to come with us, and she understands that we're not really 'friends' of her parents..." Atherin answered. He was leaning back against the back of the couch with his eyes closed. "T-that's... not what I-I meant..." Raven said, "I-I meant... f-feeding her..." "...Why are you asking me? Ask her what we would need to do."

Raven looked at Avea. "Avea... what d-do you normally do w-when you're hungry?" he asked. The white hatchling wagged her tail. "Sometimes mommy brings me and my clutch mates a person, or a bunch of candy..."

"Looks like I have to share...." Atherin said idly, after listening to her response. "C-c'mon Atherin... y-you can share, c-can't you?" Raven mocked, smirking. Avea jumped into Atherin's lap. "Will you?" she asked innocently.

"I have no problem sharing my candy. I was talking about you." Atherin smirked. Raven rolled his eyes. "Since when am I just yours, Dracula?" he joked, smirking. "Since the first bite. Didn't you know that vampires sometimes just take from one human? I'd have to be insane to let anyone else take your blood." Atherin teased.

"Really now? I'm that good?" Raven joked, "Well, you'll just have to learn to share, Dracula..." "I don't think so. I tend to be a little...possessive...when it comes to my 'food'." Atherin jested. "Well you'll just have to deal with it..." Raven said, "I'm not just _your_ 'food' anymore, deal with it..."

"....You opening a blood bank or something? If so, as you're first 'customer', I get priorities." Atherin shot back. Raven rolled his eyes. "No I'm not... and you don't get 'priorities'...."

"Seems that you're feeling a lot better to argue with me this much. Your 'free pass' must be starting to expire." "Damn..." Raven muttered, "But... I am feeling a l-little better..."

Atherin snickered slightly as Raven realized that what he had said was true. "That's good though... Taking a nap'll be easier with that weight lifted off my mind." Raven rolled his eyes. "Worried that your 'easy meal' was gonna just up and die on ya?"

"Worried that my friend was going to die." Atherin corrected, some of the things that Driacoul had said to him still weighed a little heavily on his mind. Raven raised an eyebrow. "C'mon Atherin... y-you know I was just kiddin'..."

"....I know.... But....some of the things that he said to me....are starting to get to me.....so....sorry....." Atherin answered. He was wondering why now they were starting to bother him.... Perhaps it was because now that Raven was going to make it he didn't have to worry about him dying...and could now think about what he had been put through...

"Don't b-believe anything that Organoid t-told you..." Raven said seriously. "I don't...but it still doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt..." Raven sighed. "He was j-just using me a-against you... if a-anything, I s-should be saying sorry..."

"You don't have to apologize...." Atherin replied. "W-why not? He u-used me against y-you..." "That's why. _He's_ the one that tried to get us to turn on each other..." "Well, w-we didn't, so s-stop fretting over it... we're fine now, and I-I should b-be just fine in a f-few hours..."

Atherin only nodded. It was getting hard for him to keep himself from just dozing off right there and then. Raven noticed this and shook his shoulder lightly. "You f-feeling alright?"

"I'm just...tired...is all... Not use to using...so much energy to seal something...." Atherin replied. "Oh..." Raven said quietly. He felt a little bad that Atherin had used most of his energy to seal his wounds.

"Now don't you go feeling bad... I learned a lot from sealing that wound up. It won't take as much energy if it happens again."nn"That's good..." Raven said, "I-I just hope this medicine starts working soon... I can still feel that enzyme eating at me..."

"It'll clear up... Ibeyla did say it'd take a few hours...." Atherin replied. He didn't mean to be blunt. He was tired...and now starting to get cranky. "I hope s-so... it still h-hurts like hell..."

"Would you like for me to try to ease the pain?" Tyme asked as he came back from checking on Karl, Ibeyla and Donnie. Raven looked up when Tyme walked in. "I-I'll be f-fine, Tyme..."

"You sure? It's no trouble for me." Tyme said as he sat down in a chair. He looked over to Atherin and saw that he had finally succumbed to sleep. "Looks like I'll be your company for a while." "I'm s-sure..." Raven said, putting a hand over his stomach. It hurt, but he'd been through worse in the last few hours. "Seems so... A-Atherin's out like a-a light..."

"You can't blame him. He's not a 'healer'. In fact, when he's fully developed, he'll be stronger than me." Raven laughed quietly. "I-I don't b-believe that...."

"But he will be. I'm more proficient in 'healing' than in fighting, Ryoko was more proficient in mind games and illusions...her 'healing'....was basically non-existent...and Atherin is more the physical fighter, though his 'healing' is a tad bit more advanced than other's..."

"Hmm... I s-still won't believe it 't-til I see it...." "That day isn't too far off... When he turns 21, he'll be as strong as me when I'm 26. At 22 he should be able to over power me easily." Raven blinked. "G-great... just w-what I wanted t-to hear..."

Tyme chuckled. "I don't think you have to worry too much. I don't usually ask this, but considering that you're Atherin's friend and in constant contact with a vampire or two, is there anything you want to know about us?"

"W-what haven't you t-two told m-me about vampires?" Raven asked. "I don't know what he's told you about us, so I can't answer that question." "Okay... a-are there any _other_ dangers of l-letting Atherin 'f-feed' off of me?"

"No. He's managed to learn how to 'feed' properly...though I guess to most humans there is no proper way.... I assure you that there is though. So long as you don't irritate the wound it'll be alright. Though...to make that danger non-existent you can always ask him to seal it after he's done." Tyme answered. Raven nodded. "Alright... b-but I have t-to ask... is t-there anyway to p-prevent Atherin from g-going into a b-bloodlust?"

".....Sorry....but there's no way to prevent that.... It's...like a self defense mechanism…it usually only comes out when we're critically wounded...though....some like to use it just for the thrill... You don't have to worry about that with Atherin..."

"T-that's good... I've b-been through two, and I'd prefer to _never_ do th-that again..." "I don't blame you. Though...if you want him to keep from hurting anyone, if you can tell when he's close to entering one, just lock him in a room somewhere. So long as there's no one in the room, he should snap out of it within an hour as there's no 'threat' for him to detect."

"W-well... I t-tried that last time... sort-of..." Raven said, sighing, "... I d-didn't want to l-leave him alone w-while he was s-so badly wounded..." "He'd have been alright. He'd have snapped out of it and fallen asleep so his body could start repairing itself."

"W-wish I had known t-that earlier..." Raven said, rolling his eyes. "And a-also, silver, is t-there anyway to re-reverse the e-effects?" "....Depends on what happened. If silver just touches the skin and leaves a nasty burn, it'll hurt like hell for a long while, but it'll heal on its own. If silver has been used to congeal our blood there is a way to reverse it.... To reverse it...blood is needed...but...not just any blood. The most oxygen rich blood is needed, and that is found here." Tyme said pointing to Raven's neck. Raven blinked. "Okay... h-how much blood would e-either of y-you need?"

"Depends on the severity of the wound.... If it's not too bad, like a few shallow gashes or something like that, then it wouldn't be any more than what he takes from you already. If the wound is bad, however, more than that is needed. Usually if that were to happen a whole body would be needed to get it to reverse but...in your case, it'd take a few..." Tyme thought about what word he could use to get his point made clearly without scaring Raven too much, "...'sessions'...I guess would be the best word to put it..."

Raven gulped quietly, not liking the way that sounded. "O-okay... I just w-wanted to know... in c-case of an a-accident with that s-sword..." he said, glancing over at Atherin. He was dead to the world, with Avea curled up in his lap, sleeping as well. "...I can understand your concerns... As much as I hate to say it...there most likely will be an accident or two.... Though...I hope none of them will be too serious...."

Raven nodded. "Probably, s-since things t-tend to h-happen when Atherin is a-around..." he joked, smirking slightly. Before he could say anything else, Obscura plodded over to them, wagging her tail and growling quietly. She sniffed at Tyme, not having had a chance to really see him before.

Tyme chuckled lightly at that comment. Atherin did have a knack for getting into trouble. He looked up at Obscura when she came over to him. He held out his hand, showing that he wasn't a threat to them. Obscura wagged her tail and licked his face, growling happily...

Tyme patted Obscura on her muzzle after she had finished licking him. He had yet to meet the organoid Azel. All that he knew from what Karl and Ibeyla had told him, he was keeping the white Blade Liger Eiji occupied and out of trouble. Obscura purred loudly, wagging her tail. She accidently bumped Shadow, who was curled up and asleep at the foot of the couch. She got up and yawned, looking at Tyme lazily. Tyme continued to scratch Obscura. He looked over to Shadow when he saw her move in the corner of his eyes. She was out of his reach to do anything, and Obscura seemed to be hogging his attention.

Raven was about to start talking, when the door opened... Donnie walked in, and walked over to them. "Joyce... thank Eve you're alright..." he said, sitting down beside him on the couch. He had been scared to death for his brother, and had been worried sick since Ibeyla had told him the news. She had told him to wait for the medicine to kick in, so when she had said it was alright, he wasted no time coming to see him.

Tyme kept quiet. Right now Raven and Donnie needed to talk without him interrupting them. His eyes drifted over to his own brother, he hadn't said anything out loud, but he could tell that he wasn't having a very good dream. He could only guess what it could be about….

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_**Author's Note:**_ Well…at least they're starting to heal. It seems that Raven'll make a full recovery thanks to Ibeyla's medicine. However, now it seems that it's time to heal Atherin's wounds… Those will most likely be a little harder due to the emotional aspects of what he went though and this nightmare doesn't sound all that good either… What's it about? You'll just have to wait and fine out!! Please Review!!


	25. Nightmare

_**Disclaimer 1: **__I do NOT own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul, Rika and Avea do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME.**__ The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if you use Redai without my permission, however, if you use Jurei please make note of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ Sorry for the late update. I've been a little busy and not to mention there's my….computer 'problem'. ^^; Anyways, Atherin and Raven have been saved from Driacoul, Rabe and Rika. They've also gotten the enzyme in Raven under control so only the morrow will be able to tell them what his condition is like. However, it seems that there's something bothering Atherin that he hasn't told any one of yet. What's this nightmare that he's having about? You'll just have to read and find out!!

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me. Thanks to all of those that Reviewed!!

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Ͽ Nightmare Ͼ

Raven looked over at Tyme; there was a distressed look on his face. "Tyme... are you alright?" Tyme's eyes went back to looking at Raven. "I'm alright; it's Atherin that I'm a little worried about... He seems to be having some sort of...nightmare..."

"A nightmare?" Donnie said, blinking his amethyst eyes in confusion. Raven looked confused as well. "Can you tell what it's about?" "No. He's closed his mind to me... I can't tell what it is..." Tyme answered a little worriedly. Last he knew...Atherin couldn't close his mind that tightly... Raven blinked. "That's odd..." he muttered, looking over at Atherin in worry. "Draicoul said some harsh things to him... its probably bothering him..."

"It's a possibility.... But I won't know what it is unless this barrier around his mind weakens a little or he tells me when he wakes up." Tyme replied. Raven sighed. He was getting worried, and didn't like how Atherin was hiding his dream even from Tyme. Donnie seemed worried as well. Tyme was silent for a while, wondering what on Zi his brother was dreaming about. He wouldn't try and forcefully pry his way in that would more than likely damage Atherin's mind. He'd just wait for the barrier to weaken enough for him to at least figure it out what it was with out actually intruding on the dream.

Donnie looked at the clock on the wall. "We should be nearing Horai soon...." he said, "I'm going to return to the cockpit and help pilot. Come get me if anything happens..." he said, getting up and walking away.

Tyme nodded as Donnie left. A few more minutes passed before Tyme was finally about to tell what in the world his brother was dreaming about. {How odd... There's not a single vibe in there about any organoids.... So it has to be about people...} Tyme was just about to pry a little deeper to try and figure out who, when all of a sudden, Atherin's mind closed tightly again and it forcefully pushed him out. The force of it caused Tyme to go flying about halfway across the room. Atherin wasn't doing it consciously; it was his sub consciousness.... Raven looked at Tyme oddly. "Umm... are you a-alright?"

"Y-Yeah... I'm a-alright... ...This dream must be something he's had before....from what I can tell...not just once but a few times... It's even possible that he has this dream at least once a week...or more.... From what I could gather....it has nothing to do with Organoids..." Tyme replied. Raven looked at Tyme oddly. "I don't remember him mentioning a d-dream to me before..."

".....It's probably because he didn't want any one to worry about him... This dream is pretty bad.... I'm surprised....that he can still...sleep at night..." Raven looked over at Atherin in worry. "Should w-we... try and w-wake him up?"

"It wouldn't do any good.... First off it would probably irritate him to have been woken up from sleeping, regardless of the dream, second, he'd growl out why did we wake him and if he were to catch us lying about knowing about this nightmare, he'd get angry at us for prying, third, this dream will just come up again later there's no point in waking him and making him irate, and lastly...he'll tell us when he's ready." Raven nodded. He didn't want to upset Atherin at the moment, especially after what they had just gone through.

Tyme sat back down on his chair after picking it up from when he had been forced out of Atherin's mind. "Let's just hope that he tells us soon...." Tyme said. He didn't like the fact that Atherin was carrying this burden all by himself, but he wouldn't be able to stop him from doing it anyways. He'd talk when he was ready. Raven sighed. He was getting really worried about Atherin. He feared that Draicoul's words and lies had gotten to him.

Tyme was worried too, but he couldn't do much. Atherin shifted slightly, catching both Tyme's and Raven's attentions, as both were trying to tell if he was in pain or not. Raven was getting extremely worried by this point. "Tyme... w-what's wrong with him? Are y-you sure it's... just a d-dream?"

Tyme nodded. "I couldn't see anything wrong with him physically when I went to check his wounds over. It's definitely a dream." Tyme replied. Atherin had stopped his shifting and had settled back down again. Raven was about to say something, when the Whale King shook suddenly. "We must b-be... landing..."

"Yeah... It'll be good to let you two rest and recover in a safer place." Tyme replied, watching as his brother subconsciously dug his claws into the couch to keep himself from shaking too much. Raven sighed and looked at Atherin in worry. He hoped that he'd wake up soon.

When the Whale King stopped shaking and rocking did Tyme get up. Atherin didn't so much as register the fact that they had landed. Tyme stood above him and gently pried his claws out of the couch, being extremely lucky that his brother didn't find his touch threatening. He picked him up before helping Raven to his feet.

Shadow helped keep Raven standing as she led him out of the Whale King. Obscura returned to Ibeyla and the others in the cockpit. Tyme carried Atherin, following beside Raven and Shadow just incase something happened. They soon reached where they could get off. Tyme went first to help Raven down, as Shadow was behind him, keeping him standing.

Raven got down without incident, and soon after Ibeyla, Donnie and Karl exited. Shadow jumped down, Avea perched on her head. "Donnie, would you prefer if I put Atherin in the medical room or just take him to his room?" Tyme asked as they entered Horai. "Probably to his room... he needs rest, and the medical room isn't the quietest place for him..." Donnie answered. Tyme nodded and started off to his brother's room, leaving the other's to fuss over Raven.

Karl talked to Raven for a few minutes before Donnie and Ibeyla convinced Raven to go to the medical room. After all, the enzyme was still in his system. After a few minutes of being in the medical room did Tyme come in. Raven immediately noticed that his arm was bleeding a slightly. Raven looked up. Besides Tyme, the only things in the room were Shadow and Avea. "W-what happened?" he asked, seeing the blood on Tyme's arm.

"He panicked when I placed him on his bed. I don't know why exactly, considering he slept through the landing of the Whale King, but for some reason or other he did. He calmed slightly when he saw that he was just in his room, and fell back asleep after being reassured that he was indeed back on Horai. I locked him in just incase... When he woke his eyes were crimson red and fearful... I didn't want an accident to happen." Raven blinked. "That's s-strange.... why would h-he be so s-scared?"

"I have no idea... It could be something that happened to him before he meet any of you... There is that five year time frame when he was alone...." Tyme replied, however, he got the feeling that it had nothing to do with something that had happened to him in the past... Raven sighed. "Is t-there anyway I-I can h-help?"

"I'll be alright. Just some medical tape and it'll heal by morning or early afternoon tomorrow." Tyme replied, getting some medical tape to wrap his arm up. Raven nodded. "Y-you sure Atherin will be o-okay?" he asked, "I-is there anyway I-I can help h-him?"

"I don't think I need to tell you this, but staying his friend is the best thing you can do for him. I have a feeling that he'll only confide in you about this nightmare that's been plaguing him for Eve only knows how long, so...keeping that confidential when the time comes would help him." Tyme answered. Raven nodded. Atherin had kept his past a secret since that day in Jurei, so he would keep Atherin's dream between them when, and if, he told him.

Tyme looked up and over in the general direction that Atherin's room was located. He sighed. "Seems that he's up and none to happy about being locked in his room. I'll go let him out." Tyme said suddenly to Raven, he had just finished wrapping up his arm. Raven laughed quietly. "If I-I woke up and f-found myself someplace d-different than where I h-had fallen a-asleep, _and_ was l-locked in... I wouldn't b-be too happy e-either..." Tyme chuckled lightly before he left. A few minutes later Atherin walked in, but Tyme didn't.

Raven looked up at Atherin. "Hey D-Dracula... you l-look terrible..." he joked lightly, sitting up better on the bed. "I feel terrible too..." Atherin said, sitting on the edge of Raven's bed. He was still tired from the day's earlier events and having found out that he had attacked Tyme in his sleep didn't make him feel any better... "What's e-eating you?" Raven asked, looking at him with a bit of worry.

"What happened earlier today and the fact that I attacked Tyme in my sleep..." "I saw t-that..." Raven said, "W-why were you so s-scared?" "...Didn't know where I was or who was with me..." Raven nodded. "M-makes sense..." he agreed, "B-but... in the W-Whale King... you w-were tossing a-around a lot... are y-you alright?"

"...It...was just a nightmare...nothing more..." Atherin answered quietly, as if afraid to make the horrors return. "A n-nightmare?" Raven said, "W-what about? You seemed t-terrified..." Atherin's hands clenched the sheets a little tighter. So far he had been able to keep it a secret, but he guessed with the recent events, it was bound to be found out eventually. "....You....won't tell...will you...?" Raven shook his head. "I-I won't tell a-anyone, Atherin..."

Atherin nodded, but hesitated, unsure about where to start or how to phrase it exactly. He decided. He would say when he had started having this nightmare unless asked, but he'd figure our how he wanted to phrase it.

"....In the...dream...I'm in some sort of...military base... I think it's Imperial....as you're in it as well as Karl and there's someone else too... He has long white hair. I know that I've never seen him before.... I seem to have been summoned for some reason or other, but I never get to find out why....'cause on my way there...I'm attacked....and then all hell breaks loose...

Every one has a silver weapon of some sort, whether it be daggers or bullets, but it's clear that their aim is to kill me. I fight back and manage to escape them and the military base, but not without some serious wounds. It starts to get harder to breath and I realize what I have to do to try and reverse it, but...before I get to...you and Karl stand in my way…

At first, I thought that you were there to try and help me, but...that wasn't...the case..... From there...it starts to....terrify me because I'm thrown all over the place and I have no idea what's going on as I'm thrust about half a year into the future from that point... But...you and Karl have been 'hunting' me since then..... For some reason...you're always the one that corners me....and nearly....kills me....before I'm thrust to the beginning of the dream to start it over again...but each time it does that I get hurt worse and....it gets harder to avoid you as you do more and more damage. I'm afraid of when and if that dream will end.... Because....with the way it goes....you'll eventually kill me...."

Raven stared at Atherin. He didn't even know what to say. "A-Atherin... you know Karl and me would _never_ d-do that to you..." "....I know....that's what makes it so confusing to me... I don't know why I keep having this dream..."

"And... also... the w-white-haired man, you mentioned..." Atherin looked at him questioningly. "Do you know who he is?" Raven nodded slowly, unsure of Atherin's reaction. "What's wrong? Is he....a bad person?" Raven sighed. "W-well... that man... his n-name is Gunther Prozen...."

"...Gunther....Prozen...? Do you not like him or something?" Atherin asked, mistaking Raven's reactions to the man as a bad sign. "No, no..." Raven said, "Prozen is... s-sorta like my father..." Atherin only gave Raven an extremely confused look. He didn't quite understand what Raven meant.

"Prozen t-took me in... after my family... died..." "I understand now." Atherin said. "But....any idea as to why I would see him in a dream of mine?" Raven shrugged. "D-don't ask me..."

Atherin sighed. That didn't help him in the slightest. He wasn't sure if he was the one that had instigated the attack or not.... He also didn't know why he kept having this dream after having to get to know Raven and Karl.... He had hoped that they would have stopped....but because he now knew who it was nearly killing him...it made it 100 times worse.

Raven noticed Atherin's distressed expression. "What's w-wrong?" "....I don't know if it's Prozen that instigates the attack or not.... And because I now know who it is that...attacks me....it makes the dream a hundred times worse..." Atherin answered quietly. Raven sighed and patted him on the back. "Hey, d-don't worry... Karl and me w-would _never_ hurt you, Atherin..."

"...I know that...but....I've been having this dream for a little over three years now.... I had hoped that they'd stop when I had met you and Karl..." Raven blinked. "Hmm... I d-don't know how t-to help you..." Perhaps there was something he was missing.... After all, when one's fighting for their life, even if it is in a dream, things tended to be missed...

Raven looked down in worry. He was worried by the fact that Atherin was having nightmares about him and Karl trying to kill him. And why Prozen was involved... he didn't know. Atherin noticed Raven's worried look. Perhaps telling Raven his nightmare wasn't the best thing.... "Sorry.... I...didn't mean to make you worry with something like this...."

"It's a-alright... I'm g-glad you t-told me..." Atherin only nodded. He felt a little better now that he had told someone about it, but it still weighed heavily upon his mind. "D-don't worry Atherin... Karl and m-me would n-never hurt you... and I h-highly doubt Prozen would d-do anything against y-you..." "I know.... But...it's a little hard to just get rid of a dream that's been plaguing you for three years...." "I k-know... I've g-gone through the same t-thing..."

A clock chimed somewhere. It rang two times before it quieted again. "I think I'm going to try and get some more sleep... You should too, you need it... Would it be better if I just stayed here? In case the enzyme starts to act up again?" Raven nodded slightly. He didn't really want to be alone with the enzyme still in his body.

Atherin got up off Raven's bed and took the one next to his. He wasn't about to sleep in a chair when there was an open bed right here. "You don't have to worry about me not waking if you were to try to. After that dream...I usually don't get much sleep after I wake up..."

Raven nodded slowly. He felt extremely uneasy about sleeping with the enzyme still in his body, but he was too tired to really care at that point. He sent Shadow to turn off the overhead light, which she did, and curled up on the ground beside his bed. Avea jumped up onto Atherin's bed, curling up to sleep. Atherin was soon sleeping, but as he had told Raven it was an extremely light sleep. He was resting, but it wasn't near enough to recover his energy completely.

Raven wasn't sleeping well either. The enzyme had started to eat at him again, but he was asleep and unable to realize it. Not even Shadow realized it; she was too deep in sleep to notice. Atherin tossed a little. He couldn't get comfortable to even attempt to try and get back to sleep. His eyes were closed and his breathing soft, but he was far from actually being asleep. Raven rolled over and woke up. He drew a sharp breath and clutched his stomach. The enzyme had begun digesting him in his sleep, and the pain had woken him up. "A-Ath... A-Atherin..."

Atherin woke up, not that he was really asleep in the first place, and got up, going over to Raven. He rolled Raven back onto his back so he could better 'see' where the enzyme was attacking him. The gold rim returned to his eyes as he located the troublesome enzyme. Raven coughed weakly, blood leaking out of his mouth. "H-how bad... is it?" he choked out, in extreme pain.

"It's not too bad... It's just trying to start back up again. I can take care of it." Atherin said as he started to do repair the minor damage that the enzyme was trying to do. Raven groaned in pain. "J-just... d-do what you c-an..."

Atherin continued to try and 'heal' the damaged tissue that the enzyme was heading toward. He had to use a little more energy than Tyme did, but he'd get the same results...at least on a small scale.

Raven took a deep breath, this time with no pain. "T-thanks Atherin... I-I feel m-much better now..." Atherin pulled his hand away and his eyes returned to normal. "Glad to hear that. If it starts to act up again let me know." Atherin said as he sat back down on his bed, leaning against the wall, since he still couldn't fall back asleep.

Raven nodded, but hoped the enzyme was gone for good this time. He quickly fell asleep, exhausted. Avea lifted her head and yawned, woken up by Atherin's movement. Atherin had his eyes closed and thus couldn't tell that Avea had woken up because he had moved. He had laid back down again in a vain attempt to try and fall back asleep. Avea crawled over to him and licked his cheek. "Atherin?"

Atherin opened his eyes at his name and looked over his shoulder to see Avea looking at him curiously. "What it is Avea?" "What's wrong?" she asked, nuzzling his shoulder. "...Just having a hard time going back to sleep." Atherin answered quietly to not wake Raven back up, as he caressed Avea.

Avea purred softly, licking his hand and rubbing her muzzle against his fingers gently. Atherin scratched behind her head. He knew that Azel liked to have his belly rubbed, but he wasn't sure where Avea like to be patted. Avea purred loudly, wagging her tail. She licked his hand, cooing happily... Atherin sat up and picked her up so then he could lie down on his back. He placed Avea on his chest and caressed her muzzle. Avea curled up and licked at his fingers, purring softly...

Atherin continued to pet Avea. He hoped that he'd be able to get at least one more hour of sleep. He'd feel a little bit better rested even with that. Avea yawned and curled up sleepily. "I sleepy..." she said quietly, closing her eyes and falling asleep. Atherin staid awake for another hour before he finally was able to drift off into a light sleep….

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_**Author's Note:**_ So Atherin's nightmare is really bad… What could it possibly mean and is there a way to make it stop? Raven's having to fight with the enzyme again and hopefully this'll be the last time that it acts up. What'll happen in the next chapter? You'll just have to wait and find out!!


	26. Plans and Weapons

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do __**NOT**__ own Zoids. _

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul, Rika and Avea do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME**__. The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if Redai is used without my permission. However, if you use Jurei, please make note of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ Here we are; chapter 26 already! I know nothing too serious has happened but what do you expect!? They just got back to Horai from escaping from Driacoul!! Last chapter we found out about Atherin's nightmare, which will be explained in due time to those of you that are wondering about it. ^^; Other than that, nothing too bad has happened…yet…

Thanks to those of you that Reviewed!! They're much appreciated!! ^^

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me.

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Ͽ Plans and Weapons Ͼ

Morning came quickly. The sun coming through the curtains woke Raven up. He got up and walked over to Atherin's bed, Avea was still curled up on his chest, still deeply asleep. He shook Atherin's shoulder lightly. "Hey Dracula, wake up..."

Atherin opened his eyes as if he had just had them closed briefly. He sat up slowly, making sure that Avea wasn't disturbed, before putting her back on the bed so he could see Raven more properly. "It looks like you're feeling a whole lot better." Atherin said, noticing that Raven wasn't having any trouble talking today.

Raven nodded. "Whatever you did to me last night worked like a charm. I don't hurt at all anymore..." "Strange... All I did was keep it from advancing any further and repaired the damage... It's the same thing that Tyme did..." Atherin mused to himself. Raven blinked. "Well, you stopped it from spreading. Maybe that was just what the medicine needed to destroy the enzyme; for it to stay in one place..."

"Perhaps, but whatever the case, I'm glad that it's gone." Atherin said as he stood up and stretched out. "Me too... I've _never_ been in that much pain in my life... it was like I had swallowed acid..."

"That's something that I don't want to fancy... But....the question is...now what to we do? We know that Driacoul is alive and well, and probably making good on his promise that he made in the legend. I know we're suppose to stop him, but Tyme's the only one of us that even stands a chance against Driacoul, let alone all three of them.... I think...we some how have to take them out one by one."

"Divide and conquer..." Raven said, "But... how and which one do we take down first?"

"....I already know that it'll be a while before we meet Driacoul again, so I can safely say that he'll be last. We've fought Rabe enough times to be able to predict his moves a little...so...I think going after him first would be good. That in turn will make Rika angry though....as we also have one of her hatchlings...the thing is; we've only seen her this one time and all we know is that she has venom strong enough to keep me grounded..."

"That makes her extremely dangerous..." Raven sighed. All the Vareix were extremely dangerous, and taking any of them down would be risky and dangerous. "I know..... But, as what I just stated would most likely be the better way to go, I have a feeling that we'll be fighting Rika first.... Her mothering instincts will drive her to get Avea back...so...we'll have to be extremely careful..."

Raven nodded. "And with that venom of hers, she could take us both down in five minutes and do whatever she'd like to us..." "Yeah... But...I don't want to fight against her so soon after escaping... We need to brain storm this with everyone else...not just us...." Raven nodded. "I have a feeling Rika is going to be more difficult than Rabe. We haven't even seen her fight, so we don't know what skills or adaptations she has..."

"You're right about that. I don't think her blind rage will make things any easier either...." "Yeah... 'Mommy' won't be happy when she realizes not only Avea is gone, but that we 'took' her... same with Rabe and possibly Draicoul..."

"...'Momma' will come after us first, her parenting instincts are much stronger than Rabe's...but he'd come after us next...followed by Driacoul... At least...that's how I think the order'll be..." Raven nodded. "So basically... we'll have them all on our tails..."

"All already did have all of them on our tails; it was just that Rabe was the one we saw most often... It's even possible that Rabe would pick a fight with us so then Rika or Driacoul...or both of them, could watch us and study us..."

Raven nodded. "That means we're screwed, big time...." he groaned, leaning back against the wall. "Like I said... We're not gonna get too far just brain storming by ourselves... It'll be easier with the others with us...." Atherin said as he sat back down on his bed. "Yeah... but who else is going to fight them besides us and possibly Tyme? Ibeyla won't fight, and Karl is against violence..."

"...We could have Azel and Shadow help us... They _are_ Organoids after all..." Atherin said referring to the fact that Rabe, Rika and Driacoul were indeed just Organoids. Raven shrugged, "I never thought of that... the only thing is, Shadow's never really fought another Organoid besides Zeke... she won't know what she's up against..."

"...I don't know what to tell you about that... I mean...Azel could help her.... He's....fought other Organoids before...not too many, but...he can turn pretty nasty when I'm in danger....from something that truly wants to hurt me...."

"Same with Shadow... but... I don't want her to get hurt... she and Donnie are all that's left of my family..." "I understand... It was only a suggestion." Atherin replied. "I know..." Raven sighed, "I just can't even think of losing her..." Atherin nodded. For the longest while, Azel was the only family he had. He had met him soon after leaving the village. He had met Eiji about a year ago so he could understand where Raven was coming from.

As if responding to his thoughts, Shadow awoke and lifted her head. She got to her feet and plodded over to them. She licked and nuzzled Raven, purring loudly, before doing the same to Atherin. Atherin knew that Shadow liked him, but she hardly ever let her like for him be known. He was a little surprised when she nuzzled him, as he couldn't really remember her doing that before. He patted her muzzle, something that he would never have done when he first found out that she did like him.

Shadow wagged her tail, licking his face. She growled happily, continuing to lick and nose him... Atherin continued to pet Shadow. He reached up and scratched behind her head. "You're much gentler than Azel is when he wants attention..." Atherin chuckled. Raven laughed quietly. "She isn't normally this gentle. Its just because we were hurt and are recovering... she'd normally pounce and lick you to death... at least, she does that to Karl, Ibeyla and I..."

"...Azel tackles..." Atherin replied quietly... Raven smirked. "Every Organoid I've met seems to tackle, well, excluding Zeke and those demons..." "....Azel's knocked me unconscious before.... I don't know if any of your Organoids would hit that hard..." "No... None of them have hit me or Ibeyla that hard..." Raven said, smirking at the thought of Atherin getting knocked unconscious by his own Organoid.

"It's not funny.... It happened when I was younger and Azel tackled me a little too hard... We had gotten separated and he had yet to understand what I was saying to him even with our mental connection... I hadn't yet figured out how to speak human...."

Raven snickered slightly. "Sorry... it's just funny to think about..." "I'd like to see you snickering when you're the one on the ground trying to wrestle him off you..." Atherin grumbled. "Trust me... what do you think I had to do when I first met Shadow?" "Yeah, yeah... I hear ya...." Atherin said, Shadow still wanting his attention.

Shadow licked him, nuzzling his shoulder and purring. Raven sighed. "She's going easy on you... when I first released her, she absorbed me, which when you're only eight years old is terrifying, and the moment she let me go was all over me like I was her hatchling. I thought she was trying to eat me for the first few minutes..."

"It was the same with Azel... Though...when you're suddenly thrown into a world you have no idea of and meet a giant metal creature you've never seen before.... I think you can guess how panicked I was when Azel absorbed me...."

"Same here... although, Shadow acted aggressive when I first released her. I thought she _ate_ me, for Eve's sake!" Atherin chuckled. "Yeah, I felt the same with Azel... Though after I had released him he disappeared and absorbed me like that...." "Shadow lunged at me. It wasn't until after she released me and I stopped screaming that I realized she was just licking me, and not devouring me..."

"Look at us... Exchanging 'horror' stories about when we first met our organoids." Atherin laughed. Raven laughed as well. "Well... you started it..." "True, but you followed up on it." Raven shrugged. "So?" he asked, looking over at Shadow. She was licking at Atherin's hair now.

Atherin took notice that Raven was watching as Shadow tried to groom him. "I'm not like you Raven. I don't mind if she tries to groom my hair into place. It probably needs it any ways." "Yeah well, you won't be laughing when you try to get that Organoid spit out of your hair...." Atherin shrugged. "Azel does this all the time. I'm use to it, as I learned early on to not fight against it."

Shadow licked him a last time before she wandered back over and curled up at Raven's feet. Raven looked out the window, and saw the sun was nearly over the horizon. "C'mon, let's get something to eat. I haven't eaten anything for at least a day and a half, so I'm starving..."

"Same here... I'm 'starving' too." Atherin laughed when he saw Raven's expression. "I'm joking! I'm fine. That juice that Tyme made me drink yesterday is holding it off." "Good... 'Cuz I don't think I'll be able to let you 'feed' off me for at least another day..." Raven said, turning to walk out of the room. "You coming or what?"

"Yeah I'm comin'. And I wouldn't 'feed' off you again until I knew that you were in good health again. I don't like it when you're hurt and I have to do that...." Raven rolled his eyes. "Just don't go biting someone else..." he muttered, before telling Shadow to stay behind and keep an eye on Avea.

Atherin heard his comment. "What's this I hear? Do you not like it when I bite someone else?" He teased, remembering their conversation the night before. Raven rolled his eyes. "No... It's just that I don't want you biting someone and scaring them by doing that, like Donnie..." "I told you before. I can always ask Karl, as he doesn't seem to mind it." Atherin replied.

"Okay... as long as he's okay with it, I have no problem with it..." Raven said, walking towards the kitchen. Atherin followed him. He was hungry, and he hoped that he could find something sweet to eat for breakfast. They reached the kitchen. No one else seemed to be up yet, and a glance at the clock supplied the answer. It was only half past seven; much earlier than what everyone usually woke up at. "We're on our own... I guess we eat what we can find..."

Atherin didn't need telling twice to raid the place. He was opening the cabinets looking for things while pulling things out. Raven could only stare and make a haphazard guess as to what the vampire was doing. "Atherin! Don't make a mess! Donnie will have our hides if you make a mess of the place!" Raven said, watching him tear through everything.

"I'll clean it up when I'm done! Dear Eve, just calm down, I'm trying to find stuff to make breakfast. If it's there why not use it?" Atherin asked as he finished his raiding of the pantry and fridge. He placed what he had on the counters, before putting away what he didn't need. Raven crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, leaning back against the wall. "Jeez... don't have a DiBison..." he sighed, "You're worse than Silva and Ibeyla combined..."

"If you think _I'm_ bad then you've yet to see Tyme in the kitchen." Atherin replied as he made some sort of batter. Raven chuckled. "I can only imagine what he'd be like, better yet; I'd rather not, seeing the mess you're making..."

Atherin's response was to fling some of the batter at Raven from a spoon he was using to stir the mixture. It hit him, splattering all over his hair, making it sticky. Raven yelped. "Atherin!" he snapped, trying to get it out of his hair and eye. "Ugh! You suck Atherin! That was uncalled for!!" he groaned, walking over to the sink to try and get it out of his hair before it dried.

"You said I was messy. You should have known better than to say something like that to an armed vampire with a bowlful of pancake batter." Raven rolled his eyes, still trying to get the batter out of his hair. He got most of it out, but some still stuck to him. He picked up the wet sponge and threw it Atherin, hitting him square in the face. "Shut it, Atherin!"

"…Sorry… I didn't mean to make you mad." Atherin replied quietly. He sometimes just couldn't understand Raven. Perhaps their cultural differences were just too great to bridge...

"It's alright. I basically asked for it..." Raven said, turning off the faucet. He had gotten the rest of the batter out of his hair and eyes. Atherin only nodded. He wasn't use to getting out of a food fight clean... Especially not one he had instigated.

Raven saw the look Atherin had. "If we weren't in Donnie's kitchen, I'd return fire on you, but since we're inside Horai, I'm going to behave myself, unlike _some_ people..."

Atherin smirked. "I'll remember than when we stay else where. I won't get Donnie's kitchen any messier than I already have it. Though...what _do_ you want in your pancakes? You're not gonna be boring as say plain are ya?" Raven smirked. "I _do_ actually eat mine plain, Dracula..."

"You're so boring." Atherin said as he poured some of the batter onto a preheated pan. While that was cooking he started slicing up bananas. Raven rolled his eyes. "When I was young, my family traveled a lot, so we hardly got fresh ingredients for stuff like pancakes. We just used what we could. So I got used to having plain pancakes."

"Well we have fresh ingredients now, so you're gonna try something new." Atherin said as he flipped the pancakes. Raven rolled his eyes. "Just don't put stuff in all of them, okay Dracula?"

"I won't. This batch will be boring... The next'll have bananas in them...." Raven rolled his eyes and sat down at the table. "Good..." he said, leaning back in the chair and crossing his arms.

Atherin finished the batches of pancakes and had cleaned up even before anyone had woken up. He placed a stack of plates and pancakes on the table, he wasn't going to set them out when there was only two of them. He helped himself to some of the banana pancakes, and fixed them to how he liked them. Raven got one of the plain pancakes and started eating. "These are good Atherin..."

"Thanks, but you're not leaving the table 'til you try on of the other ones." Atherin said, after swallowing what he had in his mouth. Raven rolled his eyes, but ate one of the banana ones. "There, happy?!" he said, after swallowing one bite of it. "Yes. But you gotta finish it. I'm not a fan of wasting food." Atherin replied as he started on his second helping.

Raven rolled his eyes. "I don't want to eat too much, Atherin. I'm still recovering from that enzyme, remember?" "Yeah, and as such you need to get your strength back. But...I understand, I won't force you to eat anything if you're feeling sick..."

Raven nodded. He didn't want to risk eating too much and causing more damage to his still-healing body. He managed to finish his plain pancake and another bite of the banana, before he stopped. Atherin continued eating his breakfast. Tyme soon stumbled into the kitchen. "Morning all. It's good to see you up and feeling better Raven." Tyme said as he sat down and started to help himself to some of the pancakes. It was a good thing that Atherin made plenty of food. Now that there were two vampires with just about equal appetites, Raven was surprised that there was any food left.

"Morning Tyme..." Raven said cleaning up some of the mess Atherin had made. If Donnie woke up and saw the mess he had made, he and Atherin both would be in hot water. As Raven finished cleaning up, he heard someone walk into the kitchen. He turned, and saw Ibeyla. "Hey Ibeyla..." he greeted her, sitting back down.

"Morning Ibeyla." Atherin and Tyme said from the table. Atherin had finally finished and went to help clean up as well. "Hi guys..." she yawned, obviously still tired. She looked at Atherin and Raven. "You two seemed to be doing better..."

"Yeah, we're doing better." Atherin replied, as he washed his dishes, drying them and putting them away. Ibeyla sat down next to Raven and got a few of the banana and plain pancakes and started eating. "Mmm... these are really good!"

"Thanks." Atherin said as he sat back down at the table after he had finished cleaning up. She finished eating quickly; after all, she didn't eat much. Raven undid her necklace from around his wrist and gave it back to her and she immediately put it back on. "So Atherin, what do you think we should do now?"

"...We should try to whittle down their numbers one by one. There's no way on Zi we can take all three at once..." Atherin answered. Ibeyla nodded. "But the problem is... they're sticking together. It'll be nearly impossible to get them separated if they don't want to be..."

"I know.... It might be possible that the female will come after us alone...." Ibeyla nodded. "But I have a feeling the male won't be too far behind..." "True... I wonder...if perhaps we could find some sort of silver armor for Raven but make it look like his old armor... It could be a fatal surprise if one of them tried to tear through it..."

Ibeyla shook her head no. "Vareix can smell silver. They'll be able to tell..." "It was just a suggestion... Perhaps you and Karl could go into a town or something and get two more silver weapons of some sort. Raven needs one, and if the hilt of the other one is wrapped up in something then Tyme or I could wield it..."

Ibeyla and Raven nodded. "A silver weapon would help if they attack again..." "Yeah... It'd be best if we all had one...even though we're not too fond of silver... It's better than just relying on our strength and vampire abilities. But...where will we go to find them?"

"There's a town not too far from here that has a large market place. I'm sure there will be weapons down there, possibly silver weapons..." Ibeyla said. "So...who all will be going?" Atherin asked. He knew that there were a lot of fake silver items out there so he or Tyme would most likely be needed to tell the real ones from the fakes.

"Ibeyla and I will be going, and honestly Atherin, I think some fresh air would be good for you..." Raven said. "Shut up Raven. I know that being cooped up in here isn't the best thing for a vampire..." Atherin replied. "It was just a suggestion..." Raven said, crossing his arms. "I never said that I wasn't going. I just asked who was going as well." "Just us and you I guess..." Raven answered.

Atherin yawned, his fangs prominent, as he stretched. "One of us is needed to stay here anyways. Karl and Donnie would be targets if we left them alone..." "So... is Tyme gonna stay behind?" Ibeyla said, looking over at Tyme.

"Yeah, I'll stay. I assume that you three will be leaving soon to go get them. So, someone needs to be here to tell them where you went." Raven nodded. "Yeah, we don't want Donnie to panic if I'm not here when he gets up..." he said, getting up.

Atherin got up as well. "We might as well head out now while it's still cool and not to bustling with the crowds." Ibeyla and Raven nodded. "We better get going then..." Raven said.

Atherin nodded and followed after them. "How're gonna get there; on our Organoids? I don't think Donnie will be too pleased with us if we were to take the Whale King..." Ibeyla nodded. "Our Organoids would be the best option... they're quicker and quieter than our Zoids..."

"Then I have to go brave Azel and Eiji...." Atherin said quietly. Raven managed to hear that. "You walk in that hanger Atherin, and you're a dead man..." he joked. "I know.... But I have to... Azel isn't listening to any mental commands...." Raven snickered. "Five gold says he tackles you…" "I might as well just pay you now 'cause I know that he will..." Atherin said as they neared the hanger. Raven smirked, before he turned to Ibeyla, I'll go get Shadow..." he said, walking off to his room.

Atherin sighed and braved the hanger while Ibeyla went to get Obscura. As he expected, Eiji rumbled loudly and almost bolted out of his stall; but Atherin ran over to him to keep that from happening. The white Liger instantly dropped down in front of him to so then he could get Atherin's attention. Atherin patted his nose and asked; "Where's Azel, Eiji? You didn't wear him out too badly did you?" Eiji rumbled something and if he could do facial expressions Atherin could have sworn he saw him pouting. "Oof!" His question was answered. Azel tackled him from out of nowhere and the deep blue Organoid nuzzled and licked Atherin to death as he tried to push Azel off and stand up.

Raven returned with Shadow, and Ibeyla returned with Obscura. They waited outside for Atherin to return with Azel. Atherin managed to get Azel off him and convinced Eiji that they'd be back soon and to behave himself. He walked back to where Raven and Ibeyla were waiting for him. Raven smirked. "Pay up..."

Atherin grumbled one thing or other in the vampiric language before handing Raven the five gold coins. "Let's go before we're stalled again." Raven smirked and put the gold in his pocket, before Shadow absorbed him. Ibeyla got on Obscura's back; Obscura didn't like to fuse if it could be avoided. Azel fused with Atherin and the three Organoids and their partners took off toward the nearby town to look for some silver weapons.

The Organoids landed after a few minutes of flight. Ibeyla slid off Obscura's back, and Shadow released Raven. Azel released Atherin and then vanished as he distorted the immediate space around him. "Well...were to first?"

"Let's look around... I'm sure there's a weapons seller around here somewhere..." Raven said. Ibeyla looked around, before she pulled out a bag of gold. She handed a handful each to Raven and Atherin. "That should be more than enough to find a silver knife or dagger..." she said, "You too go look for a weapon; I'm going to get some more supplies..."

Atherin nodded. He and Raven then went on their way looking for a weapons seller. It was only about nine in the morning and he hoped that they found a store that was opened. Raven spotted a small shop selling knives and other weapons. "There Atherin... let's try there..."

Atherin nodded and followed Raven to the small shop. His eyes adjusted quickly to the light difference as outside was really bright but the shop was a little dingy. He looked around, trying to see if anything there could be of use to them. Raven found a small knife in the back of the shop. It had a black blade, but the edge was silver. It was oddly shaped, with serrations on the one edge. "Atherin... can you tell if this is real silver or just metal?"

Atherin walked over to where Raven was and looked at the knife he was holding. He didn't need to examine it any closer for as soon as he laid eyes on the blade he looked at it with disdain. "Yeah...it's real silver..."

Raven nodded. "Don't worry Atherin, I would never use it on you..." he said, handing the store keeper the gold he owned for the knife. "We still need to find one more. I know Tyme can handle himself pretty well, but it'd be better if he had something to use against them that actually damaged them." Atherin said as he looked around the shop some more. Something, anything silver would be good to have...

Raven nodded and looked around. He saw what looked like another silver knife. "Hey Atherin... I think I found another one..." Atherin looked over to him and studied the knife from where he was. He had to stop himself from growling lowly at the offensive thing, but nodded to Raven, throwing his bag of gold over to him to pay for it.

Raven quickly put the two blades in his pocket, so not to make Atherin nervous. "Okay... do you want to go find Ibeyla and the Organoids?" "Yeah... Let's get out here... I'm not too fond of sharp, pointy objects...." Atherin replied, as he eyed the numerous blades that felt familiar to him...as if he had encountered them before.

"Me either..." Raven said, walking out of the store. "Now... Ibeyla said she was going to get more supplies. I'm guessing Shadow and Obscura followed her..." "Then we should look for her in the marketplace..." Atherin replied as he walked back out into the bright light of day.

Raven nodded. He wanted to get back to Horai as quickly as possible; knowing that Rika or Rabe could be watching their every move. They wandered into the market place, not looking for Ibeyla, but for the Organoids. They weren't _that_ hard to miss. "She's over there." Atherin said pointing to where he could see Shadow and Obscura standing.

Raven saw and walked over. Shadow growled and nosed him and Atherin, as if making sure they hadn't gotten themselves hurt. Ibeyla was finishing up buying some more candied peaches and fruit. They waited for Ibeyla to finish her shopping before leaving town to fuse/climb onto their Organoid.

Ibeyla finished quickly and returned to them. "Atherin... I wasn't sure about how much candy you had left, so I bought you an extra bag..." she said, handing him the blue bag full of rock candy, suckers and pixi sticks. "You didn't have to do that Ibeyla. I still have plenty of candy left... I _did_ kinda empty the last candy shop I was in...." "Then you can share with Tyme..." Ibeyla said, "And I only got the candy you liked best today..." "Thanks..." Atherin said as he followed after Ibeyla and Raven.

"Alright, let's get back before something happens..." Raven said, before Shadow absorbed him. Ibeyla got onto Obscura's back, the pale blue Organoid spreading her wings and roaring happily. Azel stayed invisible, but absorbed Atherin, waiting for his two Organoid companions to take off. Obscura and Shadow took wing and flew off towards Horai... Azel followed after. The flight back was quick and the Organoids landed back on Horai. Azel released Atherin, nuzzling him as he turned visible again.

Ibeyla jumped off Obscura and Shadow released Raven. She nosed and licked Raven, before nosing Atherin as well. Atherin patted the both of them before he, Raven and Ibeyla left to see if anyone else was actually awake and to discuss what they were going to do about their Organoid problem.

They walked to the main living area. Karl and Donnie were sitting in chairs, Karl drinking coffee and Donnie drinking tea. Tyme was also there, sitting on one of the two couches. Ibeyla and Raven sat down on the couch opposite Tyme, their Organoids lying at their feet.

Atherin took the remaining seat next to his brother; Azel had to stay behind to make sure Eiji didn't _do_ anything to cause any damage. He pulled out some candy, Tyme helping himself to some of the pieces. Raven crossed his arms. "Okay... so how are we going to kill those Vareix?"

"With silver." Atherin answered, bluntly, knowing that Raven meant formulating a plan. He didn't specify his question too well... Raven sighed. "That's not what I meant, Dracula..." he said, "I mean what are we going to do to kill them?"

"You should have said that in the first place. As for how we're going to go about this...." Atherin thought for a few minutes. "Well...we know that it's easier to kill them in their 'vampire' form, but they'll most likely be in their Organoid form...so...the best place to aim would have to be their throats... It's unprotected..."

"Slight problem with that plan Atherin..." Raven said, "Their jaws and claws.... we can't get that close. Their throats _are_ well guarded, by their jaws and fangs, and their arms and claws. It'd be suicide to get that close..."

"...Maybe for you, but not for us..." Tyme said. "Yeah... but Rika has venom that dropped even Atherin. And Draicoul..." Raven trailed off. "...There has to be _some_thing we can do to get to them." Atherin sighed through the candy in his mouth. Raven nodded. "They have to have some sort of fault or weakness that we can exploit..." "We just have to find it..." Atherin said, leaning back on the couch. "How? If we get too close, we're dead..." "....I don't know... I don't have all the answers..." "Neither do I..." Raven said, leaning back in the couch.

Atherin closed his eyes. They had run into a dead end and none of them had any ideas about what to do. "This bites..." Atherin sighed. Raven sighed and leaned his head back on the couch. Karl took another sip of coffee, before he spoke up. "Set a trap... a rope around their jaws should prevent them from biting..." he said. Ibeyla had a sudden idea as well. "The herbs! If we blind them, they won't be able to bite properly!"

"...Do you still have the herbs or do we have to go back to Jurei?" Atherin asked. They would have to work out the details to this trap carefully; least one of them still gets hurts to the point of dying. Ibeyla shook her head 'no'. "I still have more than enough to make enough powder to stop all three in their tracks..."

"That's good. But we still need to figure how we're going to set this trap up... The last one didn't work out so good..." Atherin trailed off. "We could either blind them and go for their necks, or bind their jaws shut with the rope, and either blind them or go for their throats right away..." Raven said.

"....Hmm.... If I could remember the fight with Rabe, I might be able to remember how he reacted to the powder. The only reason why I know that I used it was because I found the empty pouch on me... I'm guessing that they're like a DiBison in a china cabinet. If that's the case, restraining their jaws would be best then going for their throats..."

Raven looked over at Atherin. "I was half-dead when you did that... but I remember Rabe screeching like a banshee... that must have been it... he didn't like it..." "...So...how're we gonna set this trap up and where?"

"Not now... you two still need to heal and get your strength back..." Karl said, looking at Raven and Atherin. "I suggest waiting for at least a week, and then we could set the trap here..." "I know that Karl. I was asking how we're gonna set it up. i have no intention of fighting them when I'm only running on 30% of my energy."

"I know..." Karl said, "We could use some sort of bait to lure them in, and then use the powder to blind them. And when they can't see, we can bind their jaws and dispatch them." "....It sounds good to me.... I think...they'd try to have one go after each of us." Atherin said pointing to himself, Raven and Tyme. "I think it'd be safer if we all had some of that powder..."

Karl nodded. "And now that the three of you have weapons to use against them, it helps even the odds..." Atherin nodded. He was starting to feel tired again, considering he only really slept for two hours, and even that couldn't really be counted as sleeping.

Karl was about to take another sip of coffee, but saw Atherin's state. "Atherin... are you alright? Have you been sleeping okay?" Atherin looked over to Karl. He didn't want to worry anyone else with his lack of sleep problem. He had told Raven last night, and he was pretty sure that Tyme knew as well. "...I'm just tired is all... There was a small outburst of the enzyme last night, and as I was in the medical room to make sure that nothing happened, I used the rest of my energy to stop it..."

Karl looked between Raven and Atherin. "Okay... and you managed to get rid of it?" Atherin nodded. Raven would have told him or Tyme if it was still hurting him. "I think it's pretty much gone..." Raven said, looking over at Karl, "Atherin was able to heal it..."

Atherin stood up. He just couldn't take staying in one spot for too long. "I think I'm gonna take a walk..." Raven got up as well. "And I'll make sure he doesn't get into trouble..." he said. Atherin noticed that Raven had followed him. "Come to 'babysit' me?" He asked, a smirk tugging at his lips. Raven rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Dracula..."

Atherin lightly chuckled. He didn't know where he was going exactly, he was just walking. It kept him doing something, and not sitting in a room being bored out of his mind. After wandering for a little bit, they wound up in the gardens.

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_**Author's Note:**_ Again, nothing too bad happened. At least now they have a plan in mind and now both Raven and Tyme have something to use against those Vareix! But you all know that this peace won't last…^^; It's only a matter of time before something happens, but what you'll just have to wait and find out!


	27. The Peace Ends

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do __**NOT**__ own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul, Rika and Avea do __**NOT **__belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME**__. The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if you use Redai without my permission, but if you use Jurei please make note of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ In the last chapter they went out and got some weapons for everyone, as well as came up with a plan to deal with their Vareix menace. Nothing too exciting happened while they were there and after what they had been through recently, it was a nice change of pace for them. However, we all know that good things eventually come to an end...

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me. Thanks to those of you that Reviewed!!

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Ͽ The Peace Ends Ͼ

Atherin quickly scanned the area for any signs of the Vareix Organoids that seemed to like surprising them, after deeming it safe did he and Raven ventured further into the garden, coming to a stop at the pond that Raven had been at when Rabe first attacked him on Horai. Atherin looked into the pond, and as he expected, he only saw a part of himself reflected back at him. Raven sat down at the base of the small juniper tree. He leaned against it and closed his eyes, relaxing. Atherin sat down in front of the pond. He was tired, but he just couldn't get to sleep. Hopefully he'd have a better night tonight. "Anything you wanna talk about?" He asked Raven, hating the quiet now that he actually had someone to talk to.

Raven cracked an eye open. "Your dream... I'm confused about why Karl and I would turn on you..." Atherin answered after a moment; "...As am I... I've been trying to....figure it out ever since your faces where shown..." Raven sighed. "I hope you realize Atherin... that Karl and I would never hurt you or Tyme..."

"I know... There have been plenty of times that you could have just killed me...but you always did the opposite...." Atherin said quietly. "Now why the hell would I kill you?" "...Has it not ever crossed your mind before...?" Atherin questioned. "No, it hasn't... not even after the first blood lust..."

"Heh, you are indeed an odd human. Even after everything...I've put you through you still trust me and haven't had a single thought about killing me." Raven rolled his eyes. "My sister always used to say I was too trusting for my own good..." "Well...I'm glad that you trust me. I don't think I could take such a betrayal..." Raven rolled his eyes and he kicked Atherin lightly. "Oh come on... you know I'd never do that..."

"...I know... But...that's how I would feel if it were to ever happen..." Raven kicked him again. "Just stop thinking about it... it won't happen, so forget about it..." "Alright, I trust you Raven, so I believe you." Atherin said as he moved out of the way of another kick aimed at him. Raven opened both his eyes. "Hey... that's not fair... how am I supposed to hit you now?" "You'll live." Atherin answered, going back to looking into the pond.

Raven mock glared at him. He picked up a pebble and threw it at him, but not hard enough to hurt. Atherin smirked and disappeared from where he was sitting. His human friend had no clue as to where he was or what he was up to. Raven looked around in worry. The last time Atherin had done this, he had gotten bitten… The next thing Raven knew he was up in the air, he could briefly feel some one pick him up and then tossed into the pond. It was deep enough that he didn't hit the bottom.

Raven swam back up to the surface, gasping for breath. "Atherin! What the Helkat was that for?!" "To keep us entertained and not talking about gloomy things," He answered before diving in as well, coming up a few feet from Raven.

Raven splashed Atherin in the face. "That was completely uncalled for, Dracula... shoving me in..." Atherin splashed him back. "Technically I didn't shove you in. I 'threw' you in." Raven rolled his eyes. "Close enough... I'm in the water when I wasn't before, does it matter how I got in?" he said, splashing him back. Atherin just chuckled before diving under again. Raven was on guard for what ever he had planned. But...Atherin didn't do anything...he didn't even come back up for air...

Raven looked around. He was a little concerned that Atherin hadn't come back up. He dove under, looking for him. Atherin heard the muffled sound of Raven diving under. He was probably looking for him. He looked above him and could see Raven swimming towards him. He was hovering, just above the bottom of the pond; Raven wouldn't be able to reach him before needing to go back up for air. He needed to go back up as well. He had been down for nearly nine minutes. He signaled to Raven that he was heading back up.

Raven broke the surface, gasping for air. He wasn't used to holding his breath for long periods. Atherin emerged soon after, getting the water out of his eyes, taking just a few deep breaths, but he wasn't gasping for them like Raven was. Raven looked over at Atherin. "How the Helkat can you stay under so long? You're like part Aquitelle Organoid!!"

"My lungs are about twice the size of yours, as is my heart. Even though we're really similar in body structure, we do have a few differences when it comes to out anatomy." Atherin explained. "Well sorry... I don't think vampire anatomy was in my education..." Raven said, rolling his eyes.

"You wanted to know how I was able to hold my breath for so long. So I told you." Raven rolled his eyes. He was floating on his back, and splashed Atherin again. Atherin splashed him back, though it looked like a mini tidal wave when it hit Raven's face.

Raven righted himself in the water and splashed him back, after coughing up the water he swallowed. Atherin smirked and dove under again, unaffected by the water that Raven had splashed in his face. Before Raven could even try to attempt to guard himself, he was pulled under, but released as soon as he had been pulled down a few feet.

Raven gasped for air, coughing up the water that he had choked on. "That was uncalled for!" Atherin came back up, with a good distance between them. He was chuckling slightly. "Come on now! You should have seen that one coming!"

"Shut up Dracula..." Raven snapped, glaring at him. "Glares aren't gonna work on me." Atherin teased. He knew that Raven wouldn't be able to 'surprise' him, but perhaps just this once he'd let Raven dunk him under or something.

Raven stayed on the opposite side of the small pond. He wasn't going anywhere near Atherin, not after being pulled under. Atherin mock pouted after seeing that Raven wasn't going to come near him again in the water. Well...he'd just have to go to him then. He dove back under and broke the surface a few feet from Raven.

Raven jumped and splashed Atherin in the face. "Damnit! Why do you keep doing that?!" "I didn't mean to scare you...this time..." Atherin smirked. "Well sorry Dracula, you did..." Raven said, splashing him again.

Atherin only chuckled before swimming over to side of the pond to hoist himself out. It was nearing mid-day and coupled with his lack of sleep he was starting to wear down. Raven got out as well, sitting on the bank. He took off his boots and poured the water out of them, thoroughly soaked.

Atherin took his shoes off as well, emptying them of the water that they held. He was soaked as well, but he didn't mind it so much. "Guess we're stuck out here 'til we dry off a little." "Yeah... Donnie will kill us if we walk in wet...." Raven said, lying back on the grassy bank.

Atherin laid back on the grass as well. It was very tempting for him to try and fall asleep right there, but he was needed to keep an eye out...just in case. Raven crossed his arms behind his head, watching the clouds and birds in the sky. About half an hour passed and Atherin and Raven were dry enough to safely enter Horai without Donnie killing them. They entered Horai soon after, spending the rest of the day just relaxing and enjoying the peace while they could.

----- ----- -----

A few days had passed, and Raven and Atherin had recovered well. Raven had showed no signs of the enzyme coming back and Atherin had finally gotten a little sleep, and was back to his old self for the most part.

Right now Atherin was resting on his bed. It was around mid-morning and he had yet to make an appearance outside his room. He could feel himself getting 'hungry', but he wasn't too sure if 'feeding' where Donnie could walk in on him was such a good idea. Even though a few days had passed, Donnie was still a little weary around him.

Raven had been up for an hour, without hearing or seeing Atherin. That concerned him a little, since he was _usually_ one of the first up. He went to his room and knocked on the door. "Atherin? You still sleeping?"

"...No... I'm up..." came his soft reply from the other side of the door. Raven had to strain his ears just to hear him. Raven was a little concerned with how quiet Atherin's reply was. He opened the door and walked in, closing it behind him out of habit. "Are you alright?"

Atherin sat up and looked over to Raven. It looked like he had another restless night, but Raven could tell that something else was bothering him. Atherin knew that he couldn't get away with saying that he was fine to Raven, knowing that he was too stubborn to just leave it. "...I'm alright, but I am...getting 'hungry'... Not even my sweets are being able to keep it under control..."

Raven blinked. "Figured you were... you haven't 'fed' since before the attack..." he said, sitting down on the bed beside him. "Do you want to 'feed' off me?" Atherin nodded slowly. The things that Driacoul had said to him started to buzz around his head. He didn't want to keep doing this to Raven, but he felt more comfortable 'feeding' off him than he had anyone else.

Raven pulled off his glove and offered him his wrist. He could tell Atherin was a little uneasy by his expression. "Don't worry Atherin, I'll be fine..." he said, knowing Atherin was probably still thinking about what Draicoul had told him. Atherin nodded again and brought Raven's wrist up to his mouth to bite. He knew that Raven would let him know if he was taking too much. He would try to stop before Raven needed to tell him, but sometimes his instincts refused to listen to him.

Raven barely felt Atherin's fangs, having gotten used to it. He still turned away, not liking to watch. Not even the sound of Atherin swallowing got to him anymore. Atherin continued to 'feed'. He was aware of every vital sign from Raven to let him know if he was starting to take too much. He was also praying to Eve that Donnie didn't walk in on this.

Raven suddenly lifted his head. "Oh Helkat..." he muttered, "Atherin, we-" he was cut off by a knock at the door. "Joyce? Atherin?" Donnie asked, before he opened the door, and froze in his tracks upon seeing Atherin 'feeding' off his brother. Atherin felt Raven's sudden panic, which cause him to slightly panic thinking he had taken too much and Raven couldn't tell him. He pulled his fangs out of Raven's wrist; his one hand healed the wounds before he looked up to see Donnie...

Donnie stared at Atherin in horror. He felt like he was about to be sick from seeing him 'feeding' off his brother. Raven was panicked as well, unsure of how Donnie was going to react. Atherin wasn't moving; he was frozen to the spot. He could feel and hear his heart start to beat harder and a little faster. He didn't know what to say. Even if he did, he had a feeling that Donnie wouldn't listen to him.

"Donnie... just, calm down... I let him 'feed' off me..." Raven said trying to keep his brother from panicking. Donnie looked at him. "You... gave him permission?" he asked. Raven nodded, and Donnie calmed down a little, before he turned to Atherin. "Atherin... do you normally 'feed' off my brother?"

Atherin nodded slowly. It wouldn't be good to lie to him. He usually did 'feed' off of Raven, but when he was allowed he'd go off into town to 'feed'. Donnie blinked. "O-okay... and, this doesn't cause Joyce any serious harm?" Atherin shook his head 'no'. Apart from what Tyme had told them there was no harm done. He was even making sure from now on to seal the wounds, even if Raven didn't want him to.

Donnie sighed. "If this doesn't cause my brother any serious harm, then I don't see a reason to stop it..." he said, putting his hand on the door. Raven sighed in relief, glad his brother hadn't gone off on Atherin. Atherin relaxed a little. He was relieved that Donnie didn't react like he had when Karl had let it slip that he had nearly 'eaten' Raven. However...he still felt 'hungry'... In his panic he never noticed the fact that he had only been 'feeding' for about a minute. That wasn't enough to keep his 'hunger' staved off, but he wasn't about to bite again with Donnie still in the room... "In case you two wanted to know... Ibeyla has the powder ready and Karl found some rope. But I'll... go ahead and disappear for awhile..." Donnie said, leaving and shutting the door behind him.

Atherin kind of snapped out of his daze, and subconsciously started to wipe the blood off him. He didn't quite know what to say at the moment, his mind still trying to comprehend that for the first time Donnie didn't go off on him... It was great that Ibeyla had finished the powder and that Karl had found some rope, but as they wouldn't need it for another three days, Atherin pushed it to the back of his mind for when he would need to help put a way to lure the Vareix to them.

Raven looked over at Atherin. He was about as shocked as he was. "... Heh... Donnie always had the annoying knack of showing up at the worst possible time..." "....I can see that.... But at least he didn't go off on me this time...." Raven nodded. "Well, since you helped keep me alive after Draicoul's bite, he knows you won't hurt me..."

"...But still... After knowing that it was a bite that did that to you, even if it was from an Organoid, I would have thought him to panic more than that....when he saw..." "Donnie saw the old punctures on my wrist when we first arrived, so he knew..."

"...I guess..." Atherin replied quietly. He was starting to remember Driacoul's words again…as the thought of having to bite Raven again came to his mind. He'd need to 'feed' again at some point and time today. Raven noticed Atherin's unease again. "Atherin... are you alright?" Atherin nodded slightly; "...Yeah... But....Donnie...interrupted... I didn't...get enough to keep me sustained for a while...."

Raven sighed. "I'll let you 'feed' off me again later, but not now. I'm still recovering, and I don't think two sessions in a row would be too good for me..." Atherin nodded in understanding. He didn't want Raven's condition to take a down turn because of him. He could wait until Raven was better before he 'fed' again. Raven sighed and looked out the window. It was probably around ten or eleven in the morning. "Why don't we go outside for a bit?" "Alright..." Atherin replied. He had nothing better to do.

Raven got up and opened the door, the two of them walking out to the garden. There was a breeze today, so it didn't feel as hot as it really was. They walked back to the pond, Atherin not really paying attention to what was around him, his mind still a little stuck on what had just happened a little bit ago.

Raven looked over at Atherin. He just couldn't resist. He walked behind him and shoved the vampire into the pond and Atherin fell into the water with a large splash. "That's for yesterday, Dracula!" The next thing that Raven knew he was in the water next to Atherin, who was laughing. "And that's for shoving my little brother." Tyme smiled.

Raven glared at Tyme. "Hey, Atherin started it!" he defended, before he splashed water into Tyme's face. Tyme responded by creating a gust of wind that blew into the water behind the two teens, showering them with a good sized tidal wave. Raven shook his head, trying to get the water out of his face. "Hey, that's cheating!"

Tyme smiled. "You know what they say. All's fair..." Atherin knew better than to splash at him until he was actually _in_ the water...which was a challenge in and of itself... Raven didn't splash back either. He knew Tyme had an advantage.

Tyme smirked, knowing that the two were at a severe disadvantage to him. He still had a few tricks up his sleeve...that Raven didn't know about at least. He walked to the edge of the pond, almost as if he was daring them to try and pull him in. Raven smirked and dove under the water. The deepness of the pond, combined with the darkness of the water and his clothes hid Raven. He resurfaced by Tyme and grabbed his ankle, and tried to pull him in…

Tyme pretended that Raven had gotten to him. He acted like he couldn't balance himself, so when he did 'fall' forward he balanced himself with his one foot that had been just about to sink into the water, followed by his other foot that was on land, to balance himself and too keep from 'falling'. Only...he didn't fall into the water...he was standing on _top_ of it.

Raven stared at Tyme in shock. It took him a moment to realize how he was doing it. "Hey, that's cheating!!" Tyme only chuckled at his shocked expression. While he was busy with Raven, he didn't notice that Atherin had dived under. Before Tyme could stop it, Atherin had both of his ankles in his grasp and had pulled him down with what looked to be the force of a whirlpool to Raven. Tyme went under in less than half a second, looking like he had just disappeared. Raven blinked in shock and swam back, surprised at how fast Atherin had pulled Tyme under.

Tyme came back up about a minute later, getting the water of out his eyes. Atherin surfaced too, but he was laughing lightly, smiling at how Tyme didn't even notice him. Raven stayed well away from the two vampires. He knew if he so much as caught their eye, he'd be the one getting pulled under.

Unfortunately for Raven, he wasn't getting out of this without being soaked some more. Tyme was smirking at his younger brother, obviously planning something. Atherin was on his guard, knowing full well what his brother was capable of. Tyme dove under and was behind Atherin in an instant. He came up from behind him and dunked him under. Atherin flailed around before getting out of Tyme's dunk. He resurfaced near Raven, coughing a little as he had swallowed some of the water.

Raven could help but laugh. "Sorry Atherin... but you deserved that..." he said, snickering at him. "At least I was able to get him into the water...unlike you." Atherin replied, watching Tyme. Raven rolled his eyes, before he smirked and splashed Atherin in his face. Atherin splashed him back. And the two teens erupted into a water fight once again. Tyme decided to stay out of and wait for his opportunity to get the both of them.

Tyme saw his opening. Before either of the two boys could start their water war again, another tidal wave had come crashing down on them. Atherin resurfaced first, sputtering and trying to get the water out of his eyes as quickly as possible so he wouldn't get caught off guard again. Raven surfaced and coughed up the water he swallowed. He shook his head and rubbed the water from his eyes, looking around for Tyme and Atherin.

Atherin and Tyme were having their own water war, though it was much fiercer than the one Raven had had with him. Raven was getting splashed from their small tidal waves, even though he was on the other side of the pond. He wisely stayed out of their fight, knowing there was a high probability that he would get hurt.

Atherin and Tyme were wrestling with each other. The force at which they were 'playing' was causing the water around them to be forced away from them. Raven didn't want to get in the middle of that, but from what he could see they were enjoying themselves. Raven didn't want to be in any part in their 'play', so he swam to the opposite end of the pond, away from them, and sat on a partially submerged rock to watch.

All of a sudden, Tyme dove under water, taking their 'play' with them. Atherin soon followed after. Raven couldn't see the two vampires themselves, be he knew where they were from the water spouts that would erupt from the water every time they collided. He continued to watch them, making sure he stayed out of their way. Soon after, both vampires resurfaced. Atherin was panting a little heavily, while Tyme looked as if he had enjoyed a nice swim. It would seem that their 'play' was over.

Raven snickered slightly. He got the feeling that Atherin had lost. Atherin cut Raven a glare before sending a tidal wave his way, knocking him off his seat on the rock, and effectively shutting him up. Raven resurfaced after a moment. "That was uncalled for!"

"There's no such thing as being uncalled for in a water war, Raven. You should know this by now." Atherin answered, as he headed to a more shallow area to sit down. He was looking a little pale, but as he was always so pale it was hard to be for sure. Tyme was already on shore, using his wind element to dry himself off. "Alright you two, it was fun, but I think I'm done playing." He said as he finished drying himself off and then proceeded to go back into Horai.

Raven got back onto the rock, shaking the water from his hair and rubbing his eyes. "Okay... we _never_ challenge Tyme to a water war again..." "That's a good choice...though...it was Ryoko you had to watch out for when it came to water wars..." Atherin said from his spot in the shallows.

"Ryoko?" Raven said, not really remembering that name. "My older sister... She had control over the element of water.... You didn't want to challenge her to a water war..." Raven laughed slightly. "After seeing what you can do with fire and Tyme with wind, I don't even want to think about what she could with water..."

"You don't want to know what she could do. And wind is only half of the element that Tyme has, the other half is lightning..." Raven blinked. "Thank Eve he didn't use that in here..." "He knows better than to do that. Besides...he usually only uses it when he fights, so you don't have to worry about it." Atherin replied. "That's good..." Raven said, shaking his head again to try and get out the water.

Atherin didn't bother with trying to get the water off him. It dripped down his already soaked face and neck, sometimes dripping off his hair and into the water, creating little ripples. "Now what're we gonna do? Our 'dryer' left us here soaking wet." Raven sighed. "I guess we wait for the sun to dry us. It's all we can really do..." he said, getting out and laying on the grassy, sloped bank.

Atherin got out as well, but he sat down instead of lying down. His mind wandered, but it would always go back to him remembering that he still needed to 'feed' again and that in turn brought Driacoul's words back to play. Raven noticed how quiet Atherin was. "Hey Dracula, you alright?"

Atherin snapped out of his silent trance and looked over to Raven. "Yeah, I'm alright... I guess that I'm still 'hungry' is all..." he replied. "Figured..." he muttered, looking back up at the cloudy sky. Atherin went back to looking at the pond. He was looking at it, but not really seeing it as his mind went to wandering again. Raven saw Atherin space out again, but this time he just let him be. He stared back up at the sky, letting the sun dry his clothes.

About an hour had passed, and by that time both boys were dry, but they didn't want to go back into Horai. It was boring inside, as it was outside when they weren't trying to get the better of each other in the pond, but at least out here there was fresh air. Atherin was still spaced out, not even aware of the fact that he was dry. Raven lifted his head, hearing someone behind him. He turned, and saw Donnie. "Hey Donnie..." he said, greeting his brother.

Atherin didn't register the fact that someone was there with him and Raven. Which was bad...as one of the Vareix could have sneaked up on them. Raven saw that Atherin hadn't noticed Donnie. He kicked him lightly. "Hey Dracula, Donnie's here..." Atherin came out of his dazed state and looked behind him to where Donnie was standing. "Hello Donnie. Sorry...I wasn't really paying attention..." Donnie shrugged. "It's alright..." he said, sitting down crossed-legged beside Raven.

Atherin didn't want to space out again. He was starting to get an unsettling feeling in his stomach. He didn't what to place the feeling exactly, but it could just be his nerves about Donnie having caught him 'feeding' off his brother earlier this morning. "Tyme said you guys were messing around in the pond..." Donnie said, "Were you?"

"...Yeah... We were just trying to keep ourselves entertained..." Donnie chuckled slightly. "Well... I'm sure the fish weren't very entertained..." he joked. "Especially not when Tyme decided to join it..." Atherin added. "Yeah... I have a feeling the next time you guys decide to take a swim, the fish'll bite..." Donnie said, smirking. "So long as they don't draw my blood I'm fine." Atherin replied a little absent mindedly.

"Don't worry, they're harmless..." Donnie said. Raven snickered slightly, "Don't worry Atherin, I won't let the evil goldfish bite you..." he joked. "Damn straight you better not." Atherin replied, turning Raven's joke back on him. Raven rolled his eyes. "Lighten up Dracula..." he sighed. Atherin chuckled; now that there was a conversation going again, he pushed his thoughts about Driacoul to the back of his mind.

Donnie looked over at Atherin; "Hey Atherin your Zoid, the white Blade Liger, why does he always act up?" Atherin sighed; "Eiji's the equivalent of a three year old in human years... Azel and I found him in an old ruin about a year ago. He was...in a frozen like state until Azel and I fused with him. I'm guessing, and hoping, that it's just a stage and he'll grow out of it..."

Donnie nodded. "Maybe... but some Zoids never grow out of their childish stage..." Atherin sighed. "I have a feeling that Eiji will be one of them..." Donnie and Raven laughed. "You'll be stuck with him like he is forever, Dracula!" Raven joked.

"I know... I'll be stuck with him like he is for about 1000 years... Lucky me..." Raven snickered. "Just your luck, you'll have to deal with Eiji, Azel and me for the rest of your life..." "I know... But at least I won't be alone for most of it." Atherin replied smirking slightly.

Raven smirked back. "Yeah... you won't get rid of me easily..." "I know, considering that your life span's been extended." Raven looked at Atherin oddly. "Huh? What do you mean by that?

"Just how it sounded, your life has been extended." Raven blinked. "Extended? By how long? And _why_?" "Yes extended. As for how long....I'd say by about....100 years. As for why, it's because of my blood that's coursing through you." Both Raven and Donnie stared at Atherin in shock. "What?!"

"Raven, I've told you before. Vampire blood is considered the 'Elixir of Life'." Atherin replied. "Yeah, but you didn't tell me _that_!!" Raven exclaimed. "What other reason would Zoidians and humans hunt down vampires to drink our blood? Was it just to cure poison and stop death? If they had they used it." Raven just stared. He was more than a little shocked by this. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because...I didn't think I'd need to do it again after the first time... It wouldn't have affected you too much for you to notice... But...with the recent string of events it slipped my mind..." Atherin answered quietly, afraid that Raven was angry with him. Raven blinked. "I wish you would have told me, but I don't blame you..." he said, "Honestly, we've been so caught up with the Vareix to think of such things, so it's alright..."

"Glad that you're not mad at me for forgetting to tell you this... But...it's not like you'll be an ancient old man.... There's a good possibility that you'll stop aging sometime in your twenties... Maybe in your early thirties..." Raven blinked. "Are you being serious, or are you joking?"

"I'm being serious. I know you're not a vampire, but I'm using my parents as an example. When I was born, my father was 230 years old while my mother was 227 years old, yet neither of them looked a day older than 25."

Raven blinked. "Okay... I had no idea you vampires were so... different..." Atherin sighed quietly. "...I know we're...different...but I would like to think that we have some things in common..." "I meant that I didn't realize vampires were so different. I didn't mean it like that..." Raven tried to explain, being a little lost for words at what he was trying to say.

"I know... I know that there're a lot of things about vampires that you don't understand..." Atherin replied. "But... differences don't matter anyway..." Raven said, leaning back on the bank Atherin nodded. He was glad that Raven didn't mind their differences like most people did. Raven looked back up at the sky, Donnie following his gaze. The sun was obscured by the clouds, giving a little relief from the hot sun.

Atherin didn't want to watch the day time sky. He'd rather watch the night time sky when the sun wasn't out. Even though the sun was covered by clouds, it still hurt his eyes a lot more than his human companions. As Raven watched the sky, he saw a white flash in the clouds. He sat up, trying to figure out what it was.

Atherin noticed Raven sitting up, trying to find something. "Something wrong?" he asked. "Yeah... I think... I see Rika..." Atherin instantly perked up. "You sure?" Atherin asked as he stood up, looking at the sky. "I'm not sure..." Raven said, trying to find the white Organoid among the same colored clouds.

Atherin was also looking for the Rika in the sky, but he was also keeping his senses heightened around them, trying to confirm if she was here or not. Raven looked around as well, but he couldn't see anything. Donnie was looking as well, able to tell something bad was about to happen... Atherin was getting that uneasy feeling again. He knew that there was something there with them, and he had a sinking feeling that he knew who was with them.

Rika suddenly appeared in the tree. "Oh... so now there're three?" she said smoothly, smirking, "Well... I'll just have to fix that..." Atherin braced himself for Rika to make a move. If it was just him and Raven he'd only have to worry about them; but now he had to make sure that Donnie didn't get hurt. He wasn't a fighter like Raven was and she could kill him in an instant... Rika looked between them, and her gaze fell on Donnie. She smirked darkly, and launched from the tree at him with a snarl...

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_**Author's Note:**_ D: Oh no!! What'll happen to Donnie!? Will he get out of this unscathed!? It looks like their peaceful times really have ended… You'll just have to wait to find out what happens next time!! Please Review!!


	28. The Venom's Damage

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do __**NOT**__ own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul, Rika and Avea do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME**__. The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if you use Redai without my permission but if you use Jurei please make note of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ Oh no!! Poor Donnie!! And evil me for leaving it at that spot ^^; This chapter seems to be where everything takes a different turn, for better or for worse you'll just have to be the judge of that.

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Ͽ The Venom's Damage Ͼ

Atherin saw who her gaze fell on to strike. He wasn't too far from Donnie, so it took him half a second to get in front of him and take the blow that was meant to end his life. He cringed as he felt Rika clamp down on his shoulder, but he wasn't going to let her go that easily. He held onto Rika's muzzle, even if it was clamped down on his shoulder, keeping her from biting anyone else. Donnie gasped and fell back, taking a moment to register what had just happened. Raven was caught off guard as well, unsure of what to do. Rika hissed in rage, biting down harder and clawing at his side...

"Ahh!" Atherin cried out when she clawed at him and bit down even harder. "R-Raven! Your k-knife!!" He managed to yell. Raven snapped out of it, and grabbed for his silver knife. He pulled it out of the sheath, and plunged it into Rika's neck. The Organoid screamed and released Atherin, staggering away. Atherin remained standing shakily. He wanted to make sure she left before he let himself fall. He wasn't sure how much damage Raven had done to her, but he hoped it hurt, a lot. Rika screamed again, staggering on her feet. She turned away and vanished, leaving them.

As soon as Rika vanished, Atherin fell to his knees. Her venom had made him numb, and he was sure this time he had enough of it that it could damage him as he had heard Driacoul say. His side was shredded and bloody, but he couldn't move to try and stop it. Raven was at his side in an instant. "Atherin!" he cried in worry, unsure of how bad his condition was.

"I...c-can't move..." Atherin managed to get out. For some reason, his breathing was a little difficult. He hoped that it was just the fact that his body was numb and not the fact that whatever damage her venom could do, wasn't affecting him. Raven helped Atherin to his feet, letting him lean against him for support. "C'mon... we need to stop that bleeding..." he said, before he turned to Donnie, who was still in shock from the attack. "Donnie, hurry and run in to the medical room, get everything we need..." he said, and Donnie ran back inside.

Atherin slowly let Raven lead him to the medical room. He stumbled often, nearly taking Raven down with him once or twice, but they, eventually, made it to the medical room. Raven helped Atherin onto one of the beds in the room, and grabbed some of the gauze Donnie had set out and he wrapped up his side and shoulder the best he could, trying to stop the bleeding.

Atherin's breathing was a little ragged. The numbness of his body kept him from feeling the gauze that Raven had wrapped around him. His vision was starting to see double, and he knew that that couldn't be good. Raven continued to wrap his wounds, trying to stop him from bleeding to death. He didn't know what Rika's venom would do to him, but he knew it couldn't be anything good...

Atherin's vision further blurred. His eyes were half open, and were starting to glaze over. His mind was starting to fuzz over as well; it was getting hard for him to tell what reality was and what fantasy was. Raven finished wrapping Atherin's wounds. Donnie had gone off to tell the others of the attack. Raven looked at Atherin, and saw his eyes. "Atherin... what's wrong?"

Atherin looked at Raven blankly. /W-Who's...? Who's here? And..._where_ is here?/ Raven grew concerned when Atherin didn't answer him. "Atherin? Are you alright?" he asked. Atherin's eyes narrowed a little at Raven. It was almost as if he was trying to decide who Raven was and if he was dangerous to him... Raven was alarmed by Atherin's sudden change in behavior. "Atherin... c'mon, tell me what's wrong!"

"W-Where's....mom...and dad...?" Atherin asked, finally figuring out where he was exactly. He was at the doctors in Jurei, he must have hurt himself some how... This person that's hovering over him must work here... Raven blinked and stared at Atherin. "Atherin? What are you talking about?"

"...Mom and dad... Where are they...? O-Or Tyme or R-Ryoko...?" He wanted _some_one from his family to be there. He was up now and he wanted to go home. Raven blinked again. "Atherin... you were attacked by Rika... her venom must be affecting you..."

/...Rika...? Who's...she? Better yet...who is this person in front of me!?/ "...Who're....you...? And w-where's my mom and d-dad...?" Raven stared at Atherin in shock. "Atherin, what's wrong with you?!"

Atherin wasn't use to being yelled at, especially by someone he didn't know. He tried to get away from Raven, pushing himself into a sitting position and scooting away from him. Raven blinked. "Atherin... just tell me what's wrong..." he said more quietly, "I just want to help you..."

Atherin only curled into a tighter ball, hiding his eyes and face. He was scared, he had just witnessed the murdering of his village and now there was a human near him. He was terrified that this human would kill him. Raven blinked and stared at Atherin. He reached out and lightly shook his shoulder. "Atherin? Please, what's wrong?" Atherin tensed and whined, as a terrified child would. He further curled into himself, if that was even possible. Raven pulled back, unsure of what to do. He had never seen Atherin like this, and it was starting to scare him. Atherin remained curled up. He could still tell that the human was near him, and he was scared as to what he planned to do with him.

Raven stayed by Atherin, not wanting to leave him alone in his condition. He wasn't sure what to do, but he knew it had something to do with Rika's venom... The human was still near him, but had yet to touch him again. Atherin uncurled slightly to see what the human was doing. He was just sitting there, doing nothing, and that confused him. Raven saw Atherin looking at him. "Atherin... c'mon, say something..."

Atherin didn't look away from Raven this time, but he didn't say anything. He didn't know what this human was trying to do, but he wasn't going to fall for it... /...He could shove silver down my throat if I open my mouth.../ Raven sighed quietly, breaking eye contact. He didn't have a clue what was wrong with Atherin, but he knew he wasn't getting through to him.

After a little bit did Atherin relaxed and uncurled from his protective ball. He looked at Raven curiously, he had never seen a human before and this one seemed to be alright to him... "What'cha doin'?" he asked in a very childish manner. Raven blinked in shock. "Uhh... nothing, I guess..." he answered hesitantly. Atherin titled his head in confusion. "Nothin'? That's boring!"

Raven stared at Atherin in confusion, unsure of how to respond. He had _never_ seen Atherin acting like this before... "Is somethin' da madder?" Atherin asked, as he tried to move over to where Raven was sitting. Raven immediately stopped him, grabbing his shoulders lightly. "Atherin, don't move around..." Atherin gave him a confused look and asked; "Why?"

"You're injured..." Raven answered, letting Atherin go when he was sure he wasn't going to move again. A look of horror flashed across Atherin's face briefly. That was all that Raven could see...before he felt the vampire clinging to him, clearly scared at the fact that he had been hurt and not remembering it. Raven was caught completely off guard. For a second he thought Atherin had bitten him, but he quickly realized he hadn't. "Umm... Atherin?"

Atherin didn't hear Raven, too shocked by the fact that he had been hurt and couldn't remember it. He tightened his grip just a little, but not enough to start suffocating Raven. Raven blinked, unsure of what to do. He figured Atherin was just scared, so he tried to calm him down. "Don't worry Atherin... you're safe now..." "Really?" Atherin asked, a little muffled by his scarf. "Yeah..." Raven answered him. Atherin released him, but he still had a fearful look in his eyes. Raven looked at Atherin oddly. He was confused by his changing behavior, but he kept quiet.

Atherin's vision went black for a moment or two, but it didn't scare him. His vision returned, like he knew it would, after a minute. His head was down, but he could tell that there was someone standing next to him...someone that looked oddly familiar... He chanced a glance at the face of the person that was next to him and saw Raven...and then his silver knife that was sticking out of his pocket...and then he felt his wound hurting him. His eyes widened, his breathing _was_ difficult, and he was cut open almost exactly where Raven cut him in his dream... Or...was he dreaming already? He couldn't tell.

Raven blinked, seeing Atherin's expression. "Atherin? Are you alright?" he asked, growing concerned. Atherin cut Raven a hurt glare. Raven had betrayed him... He had said that he wouldn't use silver on him and yet he had. He growled at Raven lowly, a warning. He was basically saying 'you touch me again and I _will_ kill you'.

Raven blinked in surprise, hearing him growl at him. "Atherin?" he asked quietly, taking a step closer, unsure of what was wrong with him. Atherin swiped at him with his claws, hissing at him. Raven didn't know that Atherin could hiss in the first place, but the claws that were flying at him were the more prominent thing to worry about. Raven yelped and jumped back, Atherin's claws just missing him. "Atherin! What the Helkat was that for?!"

Atherin just glared at Raven. This dream was different than what he's had previously, as Raven had never tried to reason before... Regardless of how this dream was going he wasn't going to let his guard down... That could get him killed even faster...as he still has silver in his system.... Raven backed away, pressing himself against the wall. He didn't know why Atherin had swiped at him, but he wasn't going to chance getting close again.

Atherin watched him. /He's just faking it... He wants me to waste my remaining strength to go after him so then he can finish what he started..../ Atherin felt his breathing becoming more difficult, but he didn't want Raven to know that he was weakening... Raven stared right back at Atherin. He didn't have the slightest clue as to what was wrong with his friend. One second he was clinging to him, and the next he was swiping and hissing at him. He didn't even know what to do.

Even though Atherin's mind was telling him to stay away, it was also telling him to stop the silver that was in him by using Raven. He stood up, albeit shakily as his wounded side was hurting him greatly when he moved, and started his way to where Raven was. He tried to look like nothing was bothering him, but he didn't know if Raven could see through his bluff.

Raven pressed himself against the wall, unsure of what Atherin was doing. "Atherin....? What're you doing?" he asked nervously, afraid that he was going to attack. "...Payback..." Atherin answered threateningly. He was still slowly making his way to where Raven was it was much more difficult than he thought it would be. All the color drained from Raven's face. "F-for what?" he asked quietly, unsure of what had Atherin so angry.

"...Don't act like you don't know... You said you were my friend, but you go and stab me in the back...quite literally too..." Atherin just about hissed out. He was getting closer to where Raven was. Raven blinked in confusion, but he didn't say anything else. He didn't want to make him angrier than he already was.

Atherin took Raven's silence as confirmation that he had indeed betrayed him. He edged closer to Raven, slightly nervous that he would pull his knife on him again. Perhaps he should stop that from happening... He was close enough to Raven that he could touch him, but instead he swiped at him again, leaving deep claw marks in Raven's right arm, but they weren't deep enough to cause any permanent damage.

Raven cried out in pain and grabbed at his arm, gritting his teeth to keep from screaming. He could feel blood dripping down his arm, and he hoped Atherin didn't attack him due to it... Atherin pinned Raven to the wall once again, but instead of crimson eyes they were still lavender. He growled lowly, and went to bite Raven's neck to 'reverse' the effects of the silver that he thought was coursing through him. However, before he could bite down, he lost consciousness. His grip on Raven loosened considerably as he started to sway and finally fell to the ground.

Raven didn't react immediately, his heart pounding and breathing shallow. Atherin had nearly bitten him, while he was fully aware of his actions. That scared him more than when he gone into a blood lust. But he forced himself to kneel down to him, and make sure he was alright. Atherin didn't react to Raven when he knelt down to check on him. His consciousness had slipped from him as his body tried to rid itself of Rika's venom.

Raven realized Atherin had lost consciousness. He got up and wrapped up his bleeding arm, before grabbing the pillow and blankets from the bed. He put the pillow under Atherin's head, and covered him in the blanket. Atherin was aware enough to feel that something was put over him but he didn't know what it was. His breathing was ragged and shallow, the effects of Rika's venom and moving when he shouldn't have been. He was dully aware of the fact that his side was bleeding, and that his head was hurting badly.

Raven checked Atherin's wounds, and realized his side was bleeding again. He immediately began wrapping his side in more gauze, trying to stop the bleeding. Atherin groaned as he was moved. The wound was searing and his body was starting to feel extremely weak. He wasn't sure but it felt like he was on the floor which was odd...as last he knew he was laying on the bed.

Raven finished wrapping the wound, covering him back up in the blanket. He sat down a few feet away from him and leaned back against the wall. He was still scared from the 'attack', and didn't want to be too close to him. Atherin slowly started to come around. His eyes opened a slit and looked around to see where he was exactly. Raven got a little nervous when he saw Atherin's eyes open. He didn't say anything, unsure of his reaction.

Atherin was confused about Raven's reaction. He seemed to be nervous about him waking up. He tried to sit up, but he was too weak to do so. He then noticed that he was lying on the floor. /The hell? How'd I get down here and so far away from the bed I was in!?/ "R-Raven...? W-Why'm I on the f-floor?" Raven blinked and shied away slightly from his gaze. "You... got up..." That didn't make any sense... Why would he get up when it hurt to move so much? And...what had Raven so scared? "Raven...? Is something...wrong...?" Raven shook slightly when Atherin looked at him. He didn't answer, not sure how Atherin would take it.

Now he knew something was wrong and he was going to find out what had Raven acting so weird. He tried to sit up again, and after ignoring the pain that it caused him, he managed it. "...Raven...why won't you tell me what's wrong...? Did I.... Did I do something...to hurt you...?" Atherin asked quietly, fearing that he may have done something he wasn't aware of...especially not knowing what Rika's venom could do...

Raven nodded slightly, holding up his bandaged arm. He motioned to Atherin's hand, were some of his blood was visible. Atherin looked at Raven's bandaged arm before following his gaze to his own hand. When he saw that Raven's blood was on it he paled. He had...attacked Raven....again...? "Raven I... I..." Atherin was at a lost for words, he didn't know what to say to him. Raven pulled his legs up to his chest, lowering his gaze away from Atherin. "You... you tried to... t-to bite me..." he said almost too quietly for Atherin to hear, "... on my... neck..."

Atherin was confused, shocked and terrified. He had went for Raven's neck too? He was shaking slightly, as he couldn't comprehend what had triggered such actions from him. He tried to get up, not wanting Raven to be uncomfortable with him being here. "You kept saying... I betrayed you..." Raven said softly, "That I had... used silver on you..."

The only time he had even thought of Raven using silver on him was in his nightmares... It made no sense to Atherin that he would say such a thing... "But...the only time....that I've ever....would have said such a thing were in my nightmares.... I know that you'd never do that to me..." Atherin replied quietly. He wasn't sure how Raven would react, but he knew that Raven wouldn't do such a thing.

Raven still didn't look up, still terrified. "You... you're eyes..." he said quietly, "T-They... were _normal_, Atherin..."

That took Atherin by surprise... His eyes were...normal...? He tried to get up again, and managed it, regardless of the fact that he could feel his wound tearing a little as he did so. He made his way over to where Raven was sitting and sat down beside him, trying not to terrify him any more than what he already had. He wanted to try and fix what he had done, even if his efforts would be futile...

Raven didn't look over at him, afraid he'd feel his fangs in his neck at any moment. He wrapped his arms around his legs, trying in vain to protect his neck. Atherin knew that Raven would shy away from him to try and protect himself. He wasn't too sure about what to do to make him see that whatever he had said and done to him wasn't true or meant.

Raven didn't react to his presence, still fearing for his life, the fact that Atherin had been aware and talking to him when he had attacked terrified him. Atherin was hesitant, but he needed to do something to try and get Raven to do something... "...Raven... I'll...understand if you don't forgive me for hurting you... I can't take back what happened, but I'm sorry..."

Raven looked over at him with scared, hurt eyes. He wasn't sure if Atherin was truly back to normal, or if he was just trying to trick him. Atherin saw Raven's look He feared that he had done too much damage to even try and repair their friendship... He looked back down, his eyes held hurt, but also sadness. He truly believed that he had destroyed their friendship beyond repair.

Raven blinked. If Atherin hadn't meant any of the things he had said, he wouldn't be sad. "Atherin... did you mean those things you said?" Atherin nodded. He meant every word he said when he told Raven he'd understand if he wasn't forgiven. He felt that he shouldn't be forgiven this time, he had truly terrified Raven, more so than the first time he had went into a blood lust. Raven lowered his gaze again. He still wasn't entirely sure if Atherin was back to 'normal', or if Rika's venom was just making him say these things. He just couldn't be sure...

Just as Atherin was about to say something to Raven, his chest tightened, as if someone had cut off his air supply. He knew he was gasping for breath but it felt like he was breathing through a pillow. He was sure that Rika's venom was the cause of this, but it still didn't mean that he wasn't scared of suffocating due to the tightness of his air way.

Raven looked over, seeing that Atherin was having problems breathing. He didn't say anything, but he was worried about him. Atherin's lungs were searing, there wasn't enough oxygen in them to keep them from feeling like he wasn't suffocating. He started scratch at his chest, almost as if he was trying to tear it open to get rid of some unseen object that was hurting him. He wasn't using his claws, but his chest was starting to be rubbed raw, it was only a matter of time before it started bleeding.

Raven grabbed his arms, forcing him to stop. "Atherin, stop! You're going to hurt yourself!" Atherin couldn't struggle against Raven; he didn't have the strength to do so. He shut his eyes tight, trying to breathe and ignore the searing sensation in his chest. He hoped that he wasn't really suffocating... He wouldn't be able to tell for another few minutes, when he'd no longer be able to hold his breath.

Raven held his arms, preventing him from moving too much. He wasn't sure if he was helping, but he couldn't let him claw himself. After a few minutes Atherin's breathing started to get a little easier. He calmed down when he realized that he wasn't suffocating. He relaxed his arms, not wanting to make Raven worry any more about him. Raven let go of him as soon as he was sure he wasn't going to claw at himself anymore. Atherin's arms fell limp at his sides. He didn't have the strength to keep them up. His eyes were still closed, but his chest was still moving a little too fast to be considered normal, but at least he was breathing better. Raven was concerned with Atherin's sudden down turn. "Atherin... are you alright?"

Atherin managed a weak nod. His breathing was starting to get better, but his body still felt extremely weak. He opened his eyes a little to be able to see Raven. He wasn't quite sure what Raven thought of him, and it was confusing him. It still looked like Raven was afraid of him, yet he was still worried when his breathing took a turn for the worst. Raven reached over and grabbed the blanket. He laid it over Atherin, just to make sure he stayed warm enough to stay out of shock. This action further confused Atherin. He wasn't sure why Raven was still worried about him, but at the moment, he didn't have the energy to figure out why or talk about it. He just wanted to sleep, but for fear of his breathing acting up again he willed himself to stay awake.

Raven sat down near Atherin, watching to make sure he was alright. Atherin looked over when Raven sat down near him. He wished that he'd say something to him, anything really...just so he knew where Raven now stood with him. Raven looked over at Atherin. "You feeling any better?"

"...B-Breathing's...b-better.... B-Body feels...really...w-weak..." Atherin answered quietly, afraid that he'd upset his breathing if he talked any louder than that. "Well... that venom should clear out of you in a little bit..." Raven responded. "...S-Still....'fraid of...me...? F-From w-what I h-had done....e-earlier...?" Raven shook his head no. "If you had meant what you said when you attacked me, I'd already be dead..." "...C-Could have been...s-something to do with...v-venom...?" Raven nodded. "I think so..."

"S-Still...s-sorry for what....I did...." Atherin said quietly, even if it was the venom that had made him say such things. "It's alright... you didn't mean it..." "I...still f-feel...h-horrible about it...." Atherin replied quietly. "It's alright... except for a scratch, I'm fine..." "But...it c-could have been more than....that...." Atherin said, looking back down. "But, you didn't hurt me anymore..." Raven said, trying to cheer Atherin up a little. "...But I still...terrified you...."

"Yeah...you were pretty scary..." Raven said, "Honestly, I couldn't tell when I more scared, when you tried to bite more, or when you hugged me..." he said, smirking slightly. Atherin looked at him, total confusion in his eyes. "H-Hug you? W-Why would I w-wanna hug you!?" Raven laughed. "Well, before you attacked me, you basically clung to me for about five minutes. Honestly, I think I was more scared then than when you had me pinned!" he joked.

Atherin was totally lost. Why in the world would he cling to him!? The venom really must have done something to him for something like that to happen! Raven laughed at Atherin's expression. "You were acting like a freaking four-year-old!" That statement worried Atherin. What in the world had he spilled while he was under the control of Rika's venom? Raven stopped laughing when he saw Atherin's expression. "Atherin? Something wrong?"

He was a little afraid to ask, but he had too if he wanted to find out what he had said. "...What did...I say exactly...? I don't....remember anything besides being put into the bed..." Atherin replied. "Well... the first time you were asking for your mom and dad, and then you got scared and nearly hugged me to dead, but didn't say much, and then you... accused me of stabbing you with my silver knife before you attacked me... then you lost consciousness..."

Atherin took a moment to take in what Raven told him. It seemed he had been jumping around his ages, and 'seeing' different things. "....Hallucinations.... That's what her venom does, besides affect breathing and making the body weak..." Atherin concluded. Raven nodded. "That's what it seemed like... but... the last one... I've never even so much as threatened you with silver, so why did you think I'd hurt you with it?" he asked, the question having plagued him since Atherin had fallen unconscious.

"....My nightmares...." Atherin answered quietly. It was the only reasonable explanation for why he'd accuse Raven of such a thing. "Oh..." Raven said quietly, looking down. He still didn't understand why Atherin would ever accuse him of that, let alone attack, when he didn't give any reason for him to attack.

Atherin didn't know what to say to try and tell Raven why he had accused him of such a thing. In his nightmares, Raven was always the one that had attacked him, putting silver into his system and nearly killing him... Perhaps...this time he had saw an opportunity when Raven was trying to figure out what was wrong with him... And if he thought that he already had silver in his system then he could see why he would try to attack Raven. Raven saw Atherin's expression. "Something wrong?"

"I was just thinking about why I would accuse you of such a thing when you gave me no reason to attack you..." Atherin answered. "Yeah... I mean, I was trying to help you when you first swiped at me..."

"...I think...the reason why was because... In my nightmares...you're always the one that that attacks me... Perhaps I thought...that you had already hurt me, and I was only trying to protect myself.... But I can't be certain..." Atherin answered quietly. Raven was a little hurt by that statement, that he was the one that always attacked him. He lowered his gaze slightly. "I'm sorry Raven... I know that you wouldn't attack me... I just...can't control this nightmare..."

Raven nodded. "I know..." he said quietly, "I just hope you know I'd _never_ attack you..." "I know that you wouldn't Raven... It makes me feel even worse knowing that I have...." Raven lightly punched his arm. "Lighten up Dracula... its not like you did it on purpose! And I'm fine now, so it's okay..."

"....If you say so..." Atherin wasn't totally convinced on Raven still being okay with what he had done in the past. He had attacked him what...three times now? That was three times too many in his books. Raven sighed. "Stop being so down, I'm fine now! My arm doesn't even hurt anymore, okay?" he said, holding up his bandaged arm.

Atherin knew that Raven was trying to make him feel better. He didn't want to worry him any more so he'd just grin and bare it. "It'd make me feel better if you'd let me seal the claw marks..." Raven undid the gauze from around his arm, exposing the long, bloody cuts. He held out his arm so Atherin could heal them. Atherin winced a little when he saw the claw marks. His palms had the familiar green glow around them and Raven watched as his skin started to seal close, not even leaving a scar. Raven pulled his arm back and looked at where the deep cuts had been just moments ago. "Thanks..."

"...It's the least that I could do..." Atherin answered. He didn't want to admit it or let Raven know, but he was doing everything that he could to stay awake. "Yeah..." Raven looked up, and saw how tired Atherin looked. "Are you alright?" "...I'm just...a little tired. My body still feels weak and coupled with my lack of sleep recently...I've had better days..." Atherin answered. "Do you need any help getting back to the bed?"

"Yeah... It just about dropped me to move from there," Atherin said pointing to where he had fallen unconscious, "to here." Yeah..." Raven said, before he helped Atherin to his feet. Atherin staggered to his feet, even though Raven was helping him. It was a slow walk that would have only taken half a minute if Atherin was up to par, but their walk took nearly two minutes. That was a long time when one was about to just drop where he was standing. However, Atherin finally reached the bed. He sat down gratefully, and lied down, even though he didn't have a blanket or pillow. Raven went back and picked up the blanket and pillow from the floor and gave them back to him.

Atherin took the pillow and blanket from Raven. He positioned himself so he was comfortable, but mindful of his wounds. "You don't have to say here with me... I'm gonna try and go to sleep... I'd check on Donnie, just to make sure that he wasn't too traumatized..." Raven shook his head. "Donnie'll be fine. I'm more concerned with your breathing..."

"It's gotten better... I don't think the venom'll mess with it again..." Atherin said, not wanting to worry Raven too much about his health. "Yeah, we said that about Draicoul's enzyme, and that came back..." "True... If you're gonna be like this then fine. I'll try not to fall asleep while you're here then." Raven rolled his eyes. "Be that way..." he mocked. "I will. Though...I have to say you did pretty well against Rika today..." "Honestly, I was scared to death..." Raven said truthfully. "I can't blame you... You're usually not the one inflicting damage on them." Raven nodded. "I'm usually the one getting damage inflicting upon..."

"True... But you wouldn't have been able to hold her still long enough for me to do something... It was the only way to keep her from killing Donnie..." Raven nodded. "And I thank you for that..." "Don't worry about it. I just wouldn't let her hurt your brother, or you, if she had made an attempt." Raven nodded. "You better get some sleep, I'm sure that'll help get the venom out of your system..."

Atherin nodded. He was tired and sleep was something that his body was in desperate need of. He guessed that ever since the night he had had the nightmare, he had only gotten around seven, maybe eight hours of sleep total. Raven sat down on the bed beside Atherin's, just making sure his breathing didn't take a downturn again. Atherin fell asleep minutes after Raven had moved from his view. Hopefully he'd get a full night's sleep. Raven was tired too, but he didn't allow himself to sleep. He wanted to be awake in case Atherin needed him.

About an hour and a half later Atherin started to wake up. He hadn't had any problems breathing since he had went to sleep and he honestly believed he had been asleep for a long time. Raven had fallen asleep as well, and was leaning back against the wall on the bed; his arms crossed and head down.

Atherin sat up, making sure to not hurt himself any more than he already was. He looked over to Raven and saw him sleeping. He debated with himself if he should wake him up, but decided against it. However, after seeing that Raven wasn't waking up any time soon by himself, and he didn't want to just sit there being bored, Atherin rethought his decision and decided to wake his friend up. "Hey Raven, wake up!"

Raven jumped slightly and lifted his head. "You're finally up Dracula..." he yawned, getting down off the bed. "I thought you were gonna watch and make sure my breathing remained alright?" Atherin teased, knowing that Raven had probably fallen asleep shortly after he did. Raven rolled his eyes. "After about... an hour and a half, I figured you'd be fine..." he said. "I only slept for an hour and a half!?" Atherin exclaimed. It had felt like so much longer when he had woken up. "No... I fell asleep _after_ you'd been out that long. I have no clue how long you and I were asleep..."

"Oh... My mind must not be up to par..." Atherin said tiredly. His body didn't feel as weak as it had been and his breathing felt so much better too. It was his wounds that were starting to bother him. Raven noticed Atherin's unease. "Need me to rewrap your wounds?" "Yeah...It seems that they've bleed through some..." Atherin answered, noticing the red stain on his bed and bed sheets.

Raven nodded and gathered up the gauze and medical tape. "Now... this is gonna hurt..." he said, preparing to take off the old wrappings. Atherin nodded, might as well get it over with instead of just putting it off any further. Raven carefully pulled off the old wrappings, trying to make it as painless as possible. Atherin gritted his teeth. He was half tempted to bite his tongue to keep him from thinking about the pain around his torn midsection and shoulder. He didn't do it though, as he knew he'd probably accidently bite too hard and bleed to death. He didn't want that to happen.

Raven finished quickly and began wrapping the bloody wounds in fresh gauze, covering them completely. "Thanks Raven..." Atherin said when Raven had finished rewrapping his wounds up. "Don't mention it..." he said, putting away the supplies. Atherin leaned back against the wall. He had no clue what time it was, but he wasn't about get up and walk around to find out.

Raven looked over at the clock. "Well... it's about eleven o'clock at night... we were out a good while..." "Good. I needed the sleep." Atherin said, resisting the urge to stretch for fear of damaging himself. "Me too..." Raven yawned.

A sudden pang flew across Atherin. He was a little startled at first before he realized what it was. /That's right... I never did get to finish 'feeding'... I can hold out though..../ Raven looked over at Atherin. "You okay?" "......" Atherin didn't want to 'feed' off Raven again. He was still feeling extremely guilty about what had happened earlier... Raven knew something was bothering his friend. "You can tell me what's bothering you, Atherin..." he said, knowing something was bugging him.

Atherin sighed, knowing he wouldn't be able to tell Raven other wise. Raven'd find out somehow so it was just best to tell him and refuse. "....I'm....'hungry'....but I don't want to 'feed' off you again..." Raven sighed. "I don't mind you 'feeding' off me, Atherin..."

"...But...I feel like a...'parasite'... I don't want to feel like that any more..." Raven sat down beside him. "Atherin, I don't mind at all that you 'feed' off me. And you're not a parasite..." Atherin still looked unconvinced. It was obvious that he had been feeling like this for a long time now. Raven sighed. "Atherin... I don't have any problem whatsoever with you 'feeding' off me... it's alright with me..."

Atherin's eyes drifted away from him. He was either trying to ignore what Raven was telling him or debating with himself on whether or not to just get it over with and 'feed'. Raven sighed again. Atherin wasn't making this easy. He pulled off his left glove, for when Atherin made up his mind. "...You're making this really difficult for me to ignore you, ya know..." Atherin said when he saw, out of the corner of his eye, that Raven had taken off his glove, waiting for him to 'feed'.

"I don't mean too... it's just that you're 'hungry', and I have no problem letting you 'feed' off me..." Raven defended. Atherin's eyes drifted back to where Raven was. "...You really don't mind do you....? It was only supposed to be a one time thing until you and Ibeyla were stuck 'babysitting' me..." "I don't have a problem with it, Atherin..." Raven reassured him, "I don't mind at all... it doesn't hurt, after all..."

Atherin sighed, defeated. He didn't want to 'feed' off Raven again, but as he had lost blood and had never finished earlier, he was 'hungry'. It was something that he couldn't deny. He hesitated, but took Raven's wrist anyways. Raven turned away, closing his eyes, waiting for Atherin to bite. He didn't tense or anything, knowing it wasn't going to hurt. Once again Atherin sunk his fangs into Raven's wrist. His eyes were closed as well, it was an innate instinct for him to do so.

Raven didn't even react when he felt Atherin's fangs. It didn't even register with him anymore. He allowed himself to drift off slightly, just enough so that he wouldn't be bothered by Atherin's swallowing as he 'fed'. After a few minutes Atherin pulled away. He sealed the wounds he had made before Raven could stop him. He wasn't going to chance his friend dying because Raven had accidently rubbed it or something.

Raven pulled his glove back on before he turned to Atherin. "Feel better?" Atherin nodded. He felt better physically, but he still felt like a parasite to Raven. Raven sighed, knowing what Atherin was thinking. "Atherin, again, you're not a parasite. Don't let Draicoul get to you..."

"...I've felt like that...long before Driacoul said it out loud..." Atherin said quietly. "Well you shouldn't Atherin..." Raven said, "I don't mind that you 'feed' off me, and you shouldn't either..." "...I'll try not to let it bother me..." Atherin replied. Raven rolled his eyes. "C'mon Dracula... cheer up! I'm fine; you're fine, so stop being so worried about everything!"

"Well forgive me for not being able to bound back so quickly. It's been something that's been bothering me since we ran into the Spyrix..." Atherin replied. "That long? Man, you need to lighten up..." Raven said. "...Well... I'm just not use...to people being okay with it..."

"Well get used to it, 'cuz you're stuck with me..." Raven said, smirking. "I guess that I'll have too... After all...I refuse to share you with any other vampire like creature..." Atherin replied, smirking as well. "You better not; I have no intention of letting a Vareix bite me..." Raven said, smirking back.

Atherin chuckled. "Just a few short weeks ago, I was pretty sure you didn't like me at all and now... You're making me promise that no other vampire gets to you." Raven smirked. "And? Is there a problem with that?" "What'll you do if I fail?" "I don't know..." Raven replied, shrugging. "...That's not a very good answer..."

Raven rolled his eyes. "Why are you always so damn sadistic? Be happy for once..." "I can't help the fact that I'm sadistic... It's just who I am..." Atherin replied. "Not even for five minutes?" "I think I'd have a melt down if I were even to try..." Raven rolled his eyes. He punched Atherin in the arm lightly. "Just lighten up a bit, will ya?"

"It'll take some time....but I'll try..." Raven sighed. "Why do you have to make everything difficult?" "It's my job." Atherin replied, jokingly. Raven punched him again. "Yeah? Well you're damn good at it...." "Thanks. I try my hardest." Atherin smiled, knowing that Raven would get a little flustered before trying to one up him in their game of taunting. Raven narrowed his eyes. "You're lucky I'm still tired, or I'd try and punch you again..."

"You should be counting yourself lucky... I'm not at full strength and neither is my mind... Otherwise it'd be a whole lot worse..." Raven rolled his eyes. "Well, you seem to be feeling better..." "I do feel a little better... But I'm too tired to get you riled up..." Atherin replied. "Well... that's a first..."

"Don't get use to it... As soon as I get my full strength back I'll be at it again." "Figured..." Raven said, "I'm just glad you're not hallucinating anymore..." "I'm glad I'm not either... I don't want to hurt anyone one if I were to....lose myself..." "I'm more afraid of you hugging me again... _that_ was terrifying..." Raven joked. "I'm glad I don't remember it." "Me too..." Raven said.

Atherin leaned back against the wall again. He was doing his best to stay awake for as long as he could. Raven saw this and knew he was still tired. "You want to go back to sleep? You look really tired..." "Is it that obvious?" Atherin asked with a slight chuckle. Raven nodded. "You look like you're about to drop any second..." "I am about to drop any second... I guess finishing our conversation in the morning would be better...for the both of us..."

Raven nodded. "Why don't you go to sleep? I haven't had anything to eat since before Rika showed up, so I'm starving..." Atherin nodded and settled back down into the bed. He was glad that he was finally able to get some sleep. He was in desperate need of it. Raven left Atherin to sleep, turning off the light and shut the door so no one would bother him. He turned and walked towards the kitchen, hoping to find something to eat.

When Raven came closer to where the kitchen was he was surprised to see that the light was already on. Someone else was in there for a midnight snack. Raven walked in and saw Tyme. "Hey..." he yawned, sitting down at the table, about ready to fall asleep himself. Tyme looked up from his bowl of sugar covered strawberries when Raven sat down. "Hey. Are you two doing alright?"

Raven looked over at Tyme. "He's doing better... after the breathing problems and hallucinations subsided, he's been fine..." "...Hallucinations? I kind of figured he'd have some breathing problems, but nothing like hallucination..." Raven sighed. "They were bad..." "...I can only imagine..."

Raven nodded. "It was bad... he kept acting strange... " "...Strange how...?" Tyme asked after swallowing a strawberry. "Well..." Raven started, "At first, he kept asking for his mom and dad, and then he acting like he was terrified of me... and then..." "....I think I know why he'd ask for mom and dad... I also think I know why he was terrified of you... But…what else...?" Raven hesitated for a moment. "Well... he... hugged me..." "What on Zi prompted him to do that!?"

"I... don't know. He started acting strange, and I told him he was injured, he literally clung to me for a good five minutes. I thought he was going to strangle me..." Tyme thought for a moment. "...Was he...more or less acting like a child at this point?" "That's the only way I could describe his behavior at that point..."

"I think I understand why he clung to you when you told him that he was injured... You see...when Atherin was about six he was nearly killed... He had no recollection of what had happened, and only knows about it because we told him. He clung to us too afterwards for a little while..." Raven nodded. "That makes sense... but I was scared when he did that... I thought he bitten me for a moment or two..." he chuckled lightly.

"I can understand your concern with that, but if he was acting like his six year old self, biting wouldn't have even crossed his mind." Tyme replied. "Yeah... well I didn't know that at the time..." Raven said. Tyme chuckled lightly. "Like I said, I understand where you're coming from." Raven laughed as well. "I think him hugging me nearly to death was scarier than Rika's attack..." "I bet. A vampire hug isn't exactly as...gentle...as human hugs...considering our strength..." Tyme smiled. Raven nodded. "You can say that again... I seriously thought he was going to break a rib or two before I managed to calm him down...."

Tyme couldn't help but chuckle again. The fact that Atherin had clung to Raven; knowing that he was human, was enough for Tyme to see that Atherin thought of Raven as a brother of sorts. Even in his hallucinations. "I'm just glad he snapped out of it after that... I don't think I could handle another hug..." Raven said.

Tyme remained silent, but his eyes and smile held another message. Raven didn't like that look on Tyme's face. "What's the matter?" "Nothing's the matter... It's just...you have no clue about where you stand with Atherin do you?" Tyme asked. Raven shook his head no. "No I don't... why? Is there something wrong?"

"There's nothing wrong. I just thought you would have realized it by now..." Tyme replied, still smiling. Raven blinked. "Realized what?" he asked. He didn't have the slightest clue what Tyme was getting at. Tyme only chuckled before he finally answered Raven. "He sees you as a brother. I'm surprised that you didn't notice it earlier."

Raven blinked. "He does?" "Yes, he does. Is that really so hard to believe?" "Not really..." Raven said. "You seemed surprised about it... That's why I asked..." "Not really... I've had my suspicions..." "Since when?" Raven shrugged. "I could just sorta... tell..." "From what I could tell, it's been for a while since Atherin's considered you his honorary brother..." Raven blinked again. "A while, huh?" Tyme nodded. "I can't tell when exactly, but it seems to be shortly after you two became friends..." "That soon? I thought he started thinking of me like a 'brother' just a little while ago..."

Tyme shook his head 'no' when Raven said he thought that it was only recently. "It's been for a while now... Though...I think he kept quiet about it because he was unsure about how you'd feel about it..." "Oh, well, he did a good job at it then..." Raven replied. "You have to look at it from his perspective... You two...didn't exactly get off on the right foot if I'm not mistaken... And when you two did become friends, he was unsure of what could break that bond...let alone how you'd feel if he told you where you stood with him." Raven sighed. "I can understand that... I was.... pretty mean to him when we first met..."

Tyme nodded. He knew of their interactions before they developed their friendship. Atherin had told him just about everything; though there were a few things that he had left out... "I'm surprised he didn't bite me the moment we met... I wouldn't have blamed him, I was pretty mean to him for a few days..." "If I'm not mistaken...he did muse about it..." Raven chuckled slightly. "I wouldn't blame him at all..." "You're lucky that he didn't though... You might not be sitting here if he actually gave it any serious thought..." Tyme said. Raven nodded. "Yeah... I'm just lucky, I guess..." "Really lucky." Tyme corrected. Raven sighed. "Yeah... I think I used up all my luck in those first few days...."

"I think it might be because Atherin's unusually patient... Though he does have his breaking point..." Raven nodded. "I got _real_ close to pushing him past that..." "You're right about that... You're lucky he took off to go find someone else to 'eat'...that wasn't you..." Raven nodded. "Honestly, I think he should have bitten me, I deserved it after the way I treated him..." "You say that now, but back then it would have ruined any chances of you two becoming friends." Raven thought on that for a moment. "Maybe... but I doubt it... "

"...Even if he were to have bitten you and you got over it, I still think that you two would be rather curt with each other... That and there'd always be a shadow of a doubt in your mind about him." Raven sighed. "Hey... I've been through two blood lusts and a hug; I think I'd have managed..." Tyme chuckled. "That's more than anyone else would have been able to manage..." Raven nodded in agreement. "Not to mention he saved me from the Spyrix..."

Tyme nodded. He had been neglecting his strawberries and now there was a sugary pink syrup that coated them and the bowl, not that he minded in the slightest. "You've saved him as well. He wouldn't be here if you didn't defend him from that kid, Van." Tyme said as he began eating his strawberries again. "I almost forgot about that..." Raven said, "... I don't understand why Van snapped like that... he's never been the violent type..." "When people feel that they're being threatened, for what ever reason, they sometimes respond violently..." Tyme answered. "But... Atherin didn't threaten them at all... he could barely stand, let alone hurt anyone..."

"That may be so... But an innate instinct to 'destroy' what's different or unknown was more than likely the cause of it." Raven sighed. "If I had had more energy, I probably would've killed Van... or at least punched him. It was uncalled for..." "Of course I'm going to agree with you, but I'll warn you now... If you two ever run into Van again you'll have your hands full with Atherin..." Raven nodded. "As much as I'd love to let Atherin kill him, I won't let him..." "That's good... I know he doesn't really want to kill any more... He's never really wanted to in the first place..." Tyme replied. "Which is good..." Raven said.

Tyme nodded again. He had finished his strawberries and now all that remained was the sweet syrup. He was really tempted to eat it with his fingers; they were already sticky in the first place. The temptation won, and he started to swirl his finger in the syrup to eat it. Raven got up and walked over to the refrigerator. He opened it, and grabbed an apple. He didn't really like them, but he was so hungry he could care less. He sat back down and began eating it.

After finishing what was left of the syrup, Tyme got up and washed his bowl, as well as his hands. When he finished he sat back down at the table. He'd wait for Raven to finish eating before starting another conversation. He could tell that he needed to eat something. Raven finished the apple quickly. He threw away the core and sat back down.

"I've yet to meet them, but what're Azel and Eiji like? Atherin talked about them a lot, but I haven't gotten the chance to see them." "Well... you're likely to get pounced on when you meet Azel, and Eiji, imagine a two-year-old the size of a Liger..."

Tyme couldn't help but to smile, trying to hold in his laughter. For Atherin to be bonded to a Liger that acted like a two year old wasn't something that Tyme was expecting. And he could guess that Azel would do something similar. But, he knew that Atherin wouldn't change how they were. They more than likely kept Atherin from hurting himself or from drowning in loneliness. "And a warning, if you walk up to meet Azel, he'll likely vanish and reappear somewhere else and tackle you..." Raven said. "I'll remember that... But if Azel can still manage to do that to Atherin, then I'll more than likely fall victim to it as well..." Raven laughed. "Yeah... you'll be in trouble, big time..." "I already know that. But it can't be helped." Tyme shrugged. "Nope... you're stuck with 'em..."

"Just like you're stuck with us." Tyme smirked. Raven sighed. "Unfortunately..." he joked. "Come now. It's not all that bad." "That's what you say..." he teased. "You'll come to get use to it." "Yeah... I hope so..." he joked. "You'll have a hundred years or so to do so... I think that's plenty of time..." "Joy..." Raven joked. "That's relatively short to us..." Tyme teased. Raven rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, not in human terms..." "You'll get use to it." He replied a little bluntly. Raven could see where Atherin got his bluntness from... Raven rolled his eyes. "Just my luck to get stuck with two vampires..."

"You'll live. It's better that it's us, rather than someone who wouldn't have hesitated to drain you." Tyme pointed out. "Yeah I know... but I'm still stuck with you..." "And you wouldn't have it any other way would you?" Tyme smirked. "Nope..." Raven said, "But I didn't have much of a choice, now did I?" Tyme chuckled. "You did... You just choose to accept the fact that you'll be dealing with vampires." Raven sighed. "Yup..."

Tyme laughed. "Lighten up. A hundred years with us will fly by. You won't even notice it." Raven rolled his eyes again. "I highly doubt that..." "It's better than living to one thousand years though... Be thankful for that." "Yeah..." Raven said. "Come on now. Lighten up and just don't think about it." Raven rolled his eyes. "Hey, I don't have a problem..." "Of course you don't." Raven sighed. "What is it with you and Atherin? Every time I try to have a simple conversation, you turn on me..." "I don't mean to do that...it's...just in my nature...I guess... I think Atherin does it more subconsciously..." "No, I think Atherin does it more on purpose..." Raven said. "I doubt it... He had me to deal with while growing up... I say it's a mixture of habit and sub consciousness..." Tyme replied. "I don't think so... Atherin and I always try to turn the conversation on the other..." "As I did to him when he was little, I still think he subconsciously does it..."

Raven sighed. "Yeah well, he's good at it..." "Then you have me to blame for that." "Thanks a lot..." Raven said sarcastically. "You're welcome." Tyme replied, smirking. Raven rolled his eyes. "Yeah thanks..." Tyme only chuckled. "Perhaps one day you'll get the better of us." "I highly doubt that..." Raven sighed.

A clock chimed somewhere, signaling how late it was. "Shouldn't you be getting to bed? You look like you're about ready to drop dead from exhaustion." "I'm fine..." Raven yawned. "You don't look 'fine' and that yawn tells me that you're just trying to fool yourself." Tyme said. "I'm going back to bed in a few minutes. I just needed to get something to eat..."

"Alright then, I'll be heading to bed soon as well... I don't see how Atherin was able to switch his sleeping schedule so quickly..." Tyme complained. "He's out like a light right now..." "I can understand that... I know he's been having sleeping problems, but I know better than to pry into that matter. It's just...vampires weren't exactly made for day light activities..." Tyme said. "Yeah... but Atherin seems to be managing...." "He always was a fast adapter..." "Yeah..." Raven said, "Well... I'm going back to sleep..." "Good night. Hopefully tomorrow will be less eventful." Tyme said as he got up as well to return to his room.

Raven got up and walked back to the medical room to go to bed. He opened the door quietly, trying not to wake up Atherin. Atherin woke up when he heard the door opening. His lavender eyes started to glow, showing that he was awake, even if he didn't want to be. Raven stopped when he saw Atherin was up and looking at him. "Sorry..." "Not your fault... My ears are just too sensitive for my liking..." Raven nodded and went to his bed a little ways from Atherin's. "Go back to sleep... you need it..." "Yeah, yeah... I hear ya..." Atherin said as he tossed around some, trying to get into a more comfortable position, but not hurting his wounded side. Raven lied down and was asleep within five minutes, completely exhausted.

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_**Author's Note:**_ Well at least no one was too badly hurt and now they know what Rika's venom does. Apart from that nothing too serious happened. The peace may have ended on Horai but I promise things start to pick up from here. Please Review!!


	29. Damaged Again

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do __**NOT**__ own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul, Rika, Avea and Serrer do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME.**__ The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me, however, I do not mind if Redai is used without my permission. If you decide to use Jurei please make note of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ I know! A quick update!! \o/ Last chapter we got to see first hand what Rika's venom does and it's something that neither wants to go through again…if only they were that lucky…

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me. Thanks to all of you that reviewed!!

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Ͽ Damaged Again Ͼ

Morning soon came...much to Atherin's displeasure. He rolled over; away from the offending window that was letting the awful sunlight in, and tried to drift back to sleep. Raven woke up, the light too bright for him to try and fall back asleep. He got up and yawned, and saw Atherin trying to fall back asleep. "Hey Dracula, time to get up...." he said, tossing his pillow at him.

"Go...away..." came Atherin's muffled reply. Raven got up and walked over to the window. He opened the curtains, letting in more light. "C'mon Dracula, wakey, wakey..." Atherin put his pillow over his head. "...No wakey, wakey... I. Go. Back. To. Sleep." Raven sighed and grabbed the pillow from Atherin. "Get up, Dracula..."

"Last night you were telling me to get my rest... Well, newsflash... I'm still getting it..." Atherin responded, pulling the sheets over him to block out the 'evil' sun. Raven growled in annoyance and ripped the sheets off him. "C'mon... wake up Dracula!!" Atherin turned to face him. "Don't make me have to 'charm' you to let me sleep." Raven rolled his eyes. "You wouldn't... now get your lazy ass up!"

Knowing that he was defeated in his quest for more sleep Atherin sat up slowly, wincing a little as the wound started to hurt. "There. I'm up. Happy now?" "Very..." Raven smirked, "Now, do you need me to redress your wounds, again?" Atherin checked to see if the wound had started bleeding again. The gauze on him was a slight pink color, but not soaked like it had been yesterday. He shook his head 'no'. "It's doing better. I don't think that it needs redressed..."

"Okay..." Raven said, "So... what do you want to do now?" "I wouldn't have to do _any_thing if you'd just let me go back to sleep..." Atherin grumbled. "It's eleven, Dracula... you've been out for twelve hours..." Raven said, "You need to get something to eat, so that you'll heal..." "Sleep is what I need to heal, but if you insist..." Atherin slowly got out of bed, making sure to not disturb his wounds. "You'll live..." Raven teased. Atherin shot him a glare. Even if it was a sleepy glare, it made Atherin look a little demonic.

"Hey, don't give me that look..." Raven shot back, "Some fresh air and some food will help you heal..." "I hope you're a good cook, as I don't think I'd be able to stay standing long enough to make anything myself." Atherin replied, following Raven to the kitchen. "I used to cook when I was little, so I think I'll manage..." Raven said. "It better be sweet too... Sugar will help kick start my healing process..."

"Hey Dracula, are waffles okay?" Raven asked, looking through the cabinets for ingredients. "So long as they're sweet or filled with fruit they're fine by me." Atherin replied, sitting down at the table. The others had already had breakfast, and were now meandering around Horai. Raven did as Atherin wanted and put extra sugar into the batter and added some of the remaining strawberries from the fridge. "Is half a box of sugar okay?" "Add the whole thing if you want to. I'll eat it, but I don't know about you." Atherin answered. "I'd probably get sick even if I eat it as it is, so I'll go ahead and dump in the rest..." Raven said, dumping in the rest of box.

Atherin only nodded. He was still tired, and having been rudely awoken by the sun, he wasn't in the best of moods. However, he waited patiently for breakfast to get done. Raven finished quickly and gave the waffles to Atherin. "Go ahead and eat, while I find something for me..." "Thanks..." Atherin replied as he began eating the sugar laden waffles. "No problem..." Raven said, finally finding another apple to eat. He was getting sick of apples, but he was so hungry he was beyond caring.

Atherin continued eating, his black hole of an appetite kept him from ever being truly full. Raven soon sat down across from Atherin, eating the apple he had found. After a few minutes Atherin had finished off the waffles. He was still hungry, like always, but he could his wounds starting to seal up. Raven finished his apple soon after, he got up and threw away the core before sitting back down.

"Now what...? I'm up, have had breakfast, and am still dead tired..." Atherin asked. "I don't know... do you want to do anything? Besides sleep…" Raven replied. "...Not really... I could probably eat again, but that doesn't sound very fun or entertaining..." "Do you want to go outside?" Raven suggested. "So long as you don't push me into the pond, then sure... I think I'd reopen the now sealing wounds if I do too much..." "Don't worry I won't..." Raven said.

Atherin stood up, and after cleaning his plates, and followed Raven outside. Hopefully they wouldn't be attacked today. Raven walked over by the pond and sat down under the juniper tree. He leaned against the trunk, staying in the shade. "Move over a little. I'm not gonna sit in the hot sun and bake today..." Atherin said, sitting next to Raven in the shade. Raven did as Atherin asked and moved over so he could be in the shade. He looked down at the pond, which was less than a yard from his feet.

"Don't even think about it." Atherin growled out tiredly. He didn't need to see where Raven was looking at to tell what he was thinking. "I wasn't thinking about pushing you in..." Raven sighed. "Good... I'd have to hurt you if you did..." Raven laughed. "I don't think you're in any condition to be saying that..."

"I'd bide my time and then pay you back ten fold... I do interest when waiting for payback..." Raven flinched a little when Atherin said payback. It was the same thing he had said before he had attacked him. Atherin noticed Raven flinching. He looked over to Raven, with confused eyes. "Did I...say something wrong...?"

"...." Raven didn't respond immediately, "N-nothing..." "That's not very convincing.... Please tell me?" Raven sighed. "Before you... attacked me yesterday... I asked you why you were trying to hurt me, and you said it was 'payback'..." Atherin lowered his gaze. "...Sorry.... I...didn't know I had said that..." He replied quietly. "It's okay... you weren't yourself..." Raven replied. "...It still doesn't excuse me for scaring you like I did..."

Raven put his hand on Atherin's shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up, Dracula, I'm fine now..." Atherin only nodded, trying to push the depressing feelings from his mind. Raven sighed. "Now, I'm half tempted to shove you into the pond to get that off your mind..." "Don't. I'm trying to get it off my mind, but I can assure you pushing me into the pond will make me angry..." "Yeah? So?" Raven teased. "Do you want to deal with an angry vampire?" Atherin asked. "I guess not, but it wouldn't be the first time..." Raven teased. "Shut it... I don't get angry all that often..."

"I know... but I have the habit of pushing your buttons..." Raven replied. "A nasty habit at that." Atherin added. "I know... but I don't mean too..." "I know you don't. But it's still a nasty habit." Atherin smirked. Raven rolled his eyes. "Don't get me started, Dracula..." Atherin only smirked. He didn't want to get into one of their 'who can out wit who' matches with his mind only half working.

Raven sighed. "No comeback? You aren't any fun today..." "I'm too tired to be 'fun' today... And it's not fair when my mind's only half working." Atherin replied. Raven rolled his eyes. "You can at least try..." Atherin sighed, "Fine...I'll humor you..."

Raven smirked. "That's better..." "You have to give me something better than that to work off of... I'm not a miracle maker..." Raven laughed quietly. "Figure something out, Dracula..." Figure something out? He was! He was _trying_ to figure out how to sneak away from Raven to go back to bed! Raven looked at Atherin. He could tell what he was thinking by his expression. "Don't even think about it..."

"Think about what?" Atherin asked. Raven looked at Atherin blankly. "I can tell what you're thinking, and the answer is no..." Atherin chuckled "Since when did you become psychic?" Raven rolled his eyes. "I've been around you enough to be able to tell what you're thinking..."

"Oh yeah? Then what'm I thinking of right now?" Atherin challenged. "You're thinking about trying to sneak off to go back to sleep!" Raven replied. "That was before the psychic comment. I'm talking about right now." Atherin waved off. "Oh, well I don't have a clue..." Atherin smirked, "So much for knowing me so well." Raven punched him in the arm for that comment. "Shut up, Dracula..."

Atherin only chuckled before a strong gust of wind blew suddenly, and the clouds over head darkened drastically. "There's a storm setting in... We should head back inside... I don't wanna be caught in the downpour that's about to happen..." Raven nodded. "Yeah... and if your wrappings get wet, I'll have to rewrap them again..." "And that's something that I don't want to happen." Atherin replied as he stood up. "Me either..." Raven replied, walking inside. Atherin trailed after him. He hated being wounded, but he knew it was better to let his wounds heal naturally rather than relying on Tyme to heal them for him. They weren't life threatening and so did not require Tyme's attention.

-----

A few days had past after the storm, and Atherin and Raven were planning for their trap to kill the Vareix. After going though what felt like a thousand different scenarios, did Atherin decide to just give up and go on instinct like he had been so far. He stretched out, trying to get the kinks out of his back from sitting just about all day, since Raven had woken him up at the Eve forsaken hour of seven to do this. "I'm gonna take a walk outside... You comin'?" "Yeah..." Raven said, getting up to follow him.

They walked outside, the day was very pleasant. But Atherin hadn't been able to enjoy it as he had been cooped up in the library just about all day. Raven looked over at Atherin. "You wanna sit by the pond?" "So you can push me in? I don't think so." "I won't push you in...." Raven sighed.

Atherin looked at him skeptically, but sat down near the pond by him anyways. Raven sat down beside him. "See? You're still dry...." Raven pointed out. "But for how long before you decide to push me in anyways?" Atherin asked. "I won't!" Raven defended himself, "Jeez, don't you trust me?!" "I trust you... Just not near this pond." Raven rolled his eyes and laid down on the bank, looking up at the pale sky. Atherin remained seated, looking off to the horizon. They were hovering somewhere, but he couldn't place where exactly.

Atherin continued to watch the horizon while Raven looked up to the sky. He almost drifted into his own little world, but willed himself not too. Ever since Rika had attacked that one day, he was always apprehensive about coming out side... Raven stared at the sky a little while longer until a white flash caught his eye. "Oh no..."

Atherin immediately grew defensive. He didn't need Raven to tell him what 'Oh no' meant. He stood up; not wanting to be surprised while he was sitting down Raven was up in an instant. He looked around; trying to find the white Organoid he knew was there...

Atherin was looking for her as well. He staid close to Raven, just incase she made an attempt at him if he was too far away. After all...Raven was the one that has slashed at her throat with a silver knife. Raven saw another flash to his right, he spun around and pulled out the knife. She wasn't there... she was teleporting around...

Atherin didn't like this. She was being a little more careful this time around with them. Now that she knew that Raven had a silver weapon, she was more than likely trying to find the perfect place to strike from. There was another flash, and Raven immediately turned towards it but by that time she was gone. "Atherin... she's playing games with us..."

"...I know... I should really start carrying that damned sword with me..." Atherin replied, as a streak of white entered his vision before disappearing again. Raven opened his mouth to respond, but Rika had other plans. She suddenly appeared and snapped her jaws shut on Raven's left shoulder, making him cry out in pain as she injected him with venom. Atherin made an attempt at getting to Raven's blade before Rika could hurt him further. However, she released Raven as soon as he had moved. He had to catch Raven to make sure he didn't hurt himself. He tried again to get to the blade, even if he only had one hand to do so, but as he pulled it from Raven's weakening grasp, she vanished. It took Atherin a minute to sense that she had left again.

Raven managed to stand on his own, although he was staggering. "A-Atherin... ve-venom..." "I know... Come on.... Let's get you to the medical room before you start hallucinating..." Atherin replied, putting the knife back in its sheath as he helped Raven to the medical room.

Raven was staggering on his feet, even though Atherin was helping him. He was feeling extremely weak, and his breathing was becoming difficult. He knew it was only a matter of time before he began to hallucinate like Atherin had... Atherin got him to the medical room and onto one of the beds. He then went to grab some gauze and medical tape to wrap over the puncture wounds. Raven wasn't injured apart from that, but he didn't want the wounds to become infected.

Raven couldn't feel Atherin wrapping his wound. His body was starting to go numb, and he knew it was only a matter of time before he began to hallucinate. "Atherin... if I-I say an-anything hurtful... I d-don't mean it..." "I know... You don't have to worry..." Atherin reassured him. "But... I just want to b-be sure I said it..." Raven said, began to sway slightly, having a hard time sitting up.

"I know..." Atherin said, pushing Raven back down. It might be better if he was lying down rather than sitting up when he started to hallucinate... Raven coughed, trying to ease the tightening in his chest. His eyes were half closed, too weak to even keep them open. He felt... strange... and he knew that the venom would make him hallucinate soon...

It was now Atherin's turn to make sure that Raven didn't hurt himself during these hallucinations. He took a seat in a chair that was near the bed and waited. Raven's eyes glazed over, his vision fading. He managed to look over at Atherin. "G-get... Shadow..." he forced out, before his vision went. Atherin wasn't about to leave Raven alone in this condition. He had some how managed to contact Shadow mentally the one time perhaps he could contact her again. He mentally called for Shadow, hoping that she'd hear him.

Shadow ran into the room, banging the door shut with her tail. She growled and ran over to Raven and Atherin, beginning to whine. Raven was semi-conscious, the hallucinations starting... "Sorry Shadow... I couldn't get to him fast enough to prevent this from happening..." Atherin said quietly to Shadow. He could sort of guess that Raven was about to start hallucinating, as he was aware of the fact that his vision had blurred and such... Shadow growled sadly and nuzzled Atherin's shoulder. Raven rolled onto his side, curling up, as if trying to protect himself from something.

/...Well...here goes nothing.../ Atherin stood up slowly, trying not to scare Raven. "...Raven....? You okay...?" He asked gently, so not to startle him. Raven flinched visibly, curling up tighter. He made a soft whimper, shaking slightly. /...I guess I should have seen that coming.../ "...Come on Raven... Will you tell me what's wrong?"

Raven didn't respond, too afraid to. He was hallucinating back when Noah had killed his family. Atherin hesitantly sat down on the bed. He could tell that Raven wasn't going to speak with him at the moment, so he'd wait until he would... Raven whined quietly, not looking at Atherin. He was scared, and didn't know who was with him. Atherin remained quiet. He wasn't sure how Raven would react to him. He had no idea what Raven was hallucinating about so that didn't help either.

"Noah..." Raven whined, squeezing his eyes shut to keep from crying. /Oh... It's when Noah had killed his family... How do I respond to that!? I have to remember that he was eight at the time...and his name was Joyce as well... I wonder if I'd get a better reaction if I used that name instead.../ "....Joyce...? Everything's alright now..."

Raven looked over at Atherin for a moment, still shaking. He didn't have a clue who this person was, but this person knew who he was. /...Alright... I have his attention but now what...? / "...Are you alright Joyce...? You're not hurt any where are you?" /Might as well act like I found him or something.../ Raven hesitantly shook his head 'no'. He didn't know where this person had come from, or why he was so interested in him.

"....Before I forget, I'm Atherin... I found you earlier today... You were alone and I thought you were hurt..." Raven blinked his shaking lessening slightly. He managed to sit up, but moved as far away from Atherin as he could, and curled up again.

/...I hope I didn't say the wrong thing... I can't say anything about Noah or his family as I don't know it to him.../ "....Something....bothering you...?" Raven nodded slowly. "M-my family..."

/....He trusts me so fast? I know it took a while for him to even tell Ibeyla...and me the first time... But I won't push it too far.../ "....I'm not gonna pry it out of you....but I will listen if you want to tell me..." Raven started shaking again. He wasn't going to tell this stranger anything else. He was afraid he was going to hurt him... Atherin kept quiet. Like he said, he wasn't going to pry the already known information from Raven. All he could do was make sure that Raven didn't hurt himself. Raven continued shaking, terrified. Shadow whined and walked over, nosing Raven's arm. Raven shrieked and fell off the bed, shaking in fear, staring at the creature and the person in terror.

Atherin got off the bed and walked over to where Shadow was, visibly upset, by how Raven had reacted. "It's okay girl..." and mentally to her; /...You know that he doesn't mean it.../ "...Joyce...this is Shadow...she's not gonna hurt you... She's just worried about you..." Atherin said as he knelt down in front of Raven. He wasn't too sure how he'd react if he were to try and help him back on to the bed, but he gave it a shot. "Come on... Back onto the bed with ya..." He said gently, trying to get Raven to stand and sit back down on the bed.

Raven shook his head 'no'. He wasn't going anywhere near them. Atherin sighed. He could see where this was going and withdrew his hand. He didn't want to cause any more fear than what Raven already had for him. He moved back a little, making sure that Shadow gave him some space as well. Raven continued shaking, curled up, and pressed against the wall. He was afraid this person was going to hurt him at any second...

Atherin sat on the floor passively. He was leaning back against the bed. It was clear to him that Raven wouldn't be talking to him any time soon, as he was too afraid to do so, but that didn't stop him from talking to him. "...Joyce...I'm not gonna hurt you... I know that you're probably thinking other wise, but I have no reason what so ever to even think about hurting you..."

Raven didn't look up, still afraid. He didn't even know where he was, let alone if this person was trustworthy... Atherin sighed. Raven wasn't going to make things easy, though...he doubted that he made things easy for Raven when he went through this. "Joyce, you're in a medical facility...just in case you're wondering..."

Raven looked over at him, shaking in fear. "H-how'd I g-get here?" "I brought you here... Like I told you earlier... You were alone and I thought you were hurt..." Raven continued to shake, but didn't look away. He still didn't know if this person was trying to help him, or if he'd hurt him.

Atherin did look away, but it was only because Shadow was pining. He looked to her, and patted her, trying to keep her calm and from scaring Raven any more than he already was. Raven shook his head, trying to fight the venom. He managed to break the hallucination for a brief moment, and looked at Atherin. "A-Atherin... if... if I t-try to hurt you, or a-anyone else, d-do whatever you h-have to... to s-stop me..."

Atherin looked back to Raven when he spoke to him. He could some how tell that Raven wasn't speaking due to the hallucination. "....I'll do what I can Raven... I'll make sure that you don't hurt anyone." Atherin replied.

Raven nodded. "E-even if y-you have t-to... to bite or c-claw me, do it..." "I can't do that Raven... I think my strength will be enough to keep you from doing anything..." Raven nodded slowly. He started shaking again, losing to the venom again, and beginning to hallucinate again. Atherin remained as calm as he could. He didn't know what Raven would hallucinate about next, but he would be as ready for it as he could.

Raven started shaking again, looking around fearfully. He didn't know who this person was, or why Shadow wasn't attacking him. Atherin looked over to Raven when he saw that he was watching him again. He didn't know where Raven was at the moment or what he was thinking... Raven blinked and shuddered under Atherin's gaze. He was looking around for the white Organoid that had tried to eat him, but he couldn't see her. Atherin noticed that Raven was looking around again with fear in his eyes. "....What're...you looking for...?"

Raven jumped slightly when Atherin talked, looking at him fearfully. "T-the Organoid..." he answered quietly, looking over at Shadow. She growled softly and walked over to him, licking his hair and sniffing him curiously. "...What...Organoid...?" Atherin asked gently. He didn't know what Organoid he was talking about, but judging by the way he was reacting to Shadow; he must be talking about a different one.

"T-the white one..." he answered, wrapping his arms around Shadow's snout, trying to calm himself down. /...White one...? Some how I don't think he's talking about Rika.../ "...What did this...white Organoid look like...?" Raven whimpered and held on to Shadow, shaking again. "She had r-red eyes, blue fur, and s-sharp teeth..." /...Raven never told me this...but I guess that's to be expected.../ "....She's not here... You don't have to worry about her now..."

Raven looked at him. "S-she's making y-you say that!" Atherin gave him a confused look. /I best tread lightly this time... He thinks I'm being mind controlled.../ "...Who's making me say what?" "T-the white Organoid! S-she's trying to g-get me to l-lower my guard, so she c-can... can eat me!" Raven shouted, fear in his eyes. /...How to handle this? What ever I say will terrify him.../ "....Then don't lower your guard if you think I'm being controlled... It the only thing I can tell you at the moment..."

Raven blinked his shaking lessening slightly. "If y-you're not being c-controlled by... her... t-then you need to get away before she comes back!" "....You're in medical facility... You're not were you where when you encountered her..." Atherin replied, hoping that he wasn't saying the wrong things. Raven stopped shaking. "B-but...what about the others? Where are they?"

/Others? I'm totally lost here, but...I'll give it a shot.../ "....There were no...others..." Atherin replied quietly. Raven's eyes widened in horror, "She k-killed all of them?!" "....There wasn't....anyone else..." Atherin replied quietly. Raven started shaking again. "S-she ate them all?" /I don't know...but I would assume so.../ Atherin only nodded, confirming Raven's terror.

Raven whimpered quietly. "S-she's gonna follow me... she w-won't stop until she k-kills me..." /...What to do...I don't think my trying to console him will help too much...if at all.../ "....I'll....make sure that that doesn't happen..." Raven looked at him disbelievingly. "S-she'll just eat you!" "...I'm not the easiest thing to eat, believe me, Organoids have tried before." Raven didn't react to that comment. He was worried about something else. "Ibeyla... did she get Ibeyla?" "No, Ibeyla's just fine."

Raven calmed down after hearing that. "Serrer... d-did you see her, when you found me and Shadow?" "....Serrer...? No...I didn't see her..."

"S-she followed you... she c-can turn... invisible..." "...If she had followed me, she'd have attacked by now..." Atherin tried to reason. Raven shook his head 'no'. "S-she is probably watching, w-waiting to attack you..." Atherin didn't know how to respond to that. How was he supposed to convince Raven that there was no Organoid like Serrer in here. "...Raven...you're safe here... She can't get to you or me..."

Raven wasn't convinced, but he didn't press it. He looked up at Atherin again. "H-how do you know my name?" /...Well...technically Ibeyla introduced us, but I don't think he'll buy that... I could say Shadow, but then he'll question how I can talk to her... I don't know where he stands with Karl at the moment...perhaps.../ "...Prozen told me..." He hoped that Raven wouldn't question him about it. Raven nodded. "W-who are you, anyway?" he asked. "My name's Atherin." "Atherin?" Raven asked, "I-I don't think I've seen you before..." "That's because you haven't. I saw your Imperial signit and brought you to an Imperial base... I was told that I could stay here if I wanted." Atherin replied.

Raven looked over at Atherin, his hallucination changing again. He suddenly became aware of a pain on his shoulder. He grabbed at it, panicking slightly. Atherin looked over to Raven when he saw him grab his shoulder. /Rika's bite must be paining him.../ He had no idea that Raven's hallucination had changed again... Raven didn't know where the wound had come from, but he had the horrible suspicion that it was from Atherin. The wound was hurting a lot, making him squeeze his eyes shut in pain.

Atherin saw how Raven squeezed his eyes shut at the pain Rika's wounds were causing him. "Raven? What's wrong?" He didn't know that Raven was right this moment accusing him of causing those wounds. Raven opened his eyes and shot a glare at Atherin, still clutching at his shoulder. Needless to say, Atherin was a little startled when Raven glared at him. But it quickly passed, his condition was more important. "Raven?" He asked again, not understanding why he was being glared at.

Raven didn't answer, not wanting to talk to Atherin; he had betrayed him again and bitten him. "I can't help if you don't answer me." Atherin said when he saw that Raven wasn't going to answer him. He wasn't a mind reader so he had no idea what Raven was thinking about. Raven glared at Atherin again. "Help me?" he snapped, "Why would you help me?!"

Okay, that hurt...even if Atherin knew that Raven didn't mean it. /His hallucination must have changed again... And it seems that I'm his target now.../ "...Raven... I don't understand why you're mad at me." Raven narrowed his eyes. His wound had begun bleeding again. "You don't understand why I'm mad?" he sneered sarcastically, "Don't play stupid with me..." Atherin was completely bewildered, until he remembered that Raven had grabbed his shoulder where he had been bitten. /He thinks I bit him... How'm I gonna convince him other wise? / "Raven, I didn't bite you. An Organoid did." Atherin tried to explain, not sure if Raven even knew who Rika was at the moment.

Raven glared at him again. "Don't think you make me think otherwise. _You_ bit me..." he growled, clutching his wound harder. He was shaking slightly; the wound beginning to hurt worse and worse. Atherin was growing concerned with Raven's condition. He wanted to try and ease the pain, but he could tell that Raven wouldn't let him get any closer to him. "Raven, I did not bite you." Raven narrowed his eyes. "Lie all you want, but you won't change what happened...." he snapped, looking back at his wounded shoulder. He gritted his teeth in pain, the wound paining him greatly.

That hurt as well, but Atherin knew that it was the hallucinations talking. He wouldn't let it bother him. He could tell how much pain Raven was in, and that compelled him to edge closer to try and see if he could ease the pain a little. Raven didn't see Atherin move closer, preoccupied with his throbbing wound. It hurt horribly, and the pain was getting worse by the moment. Atherin knew better than to just reach out to try an energy transfer to ease the pain. He'd ask, even if he were to get a scathing comment back. "Do you want me to help?"

"No..." Raven growled lowly, still clutching his wounded shoulder. His breathing was starting to become difficult, making him panic. He didn't know what Atherin had done to him, but he knew it was probably fatal. "Raven...you're being difficult... Please let me help you?" Atherin asked, noticing Raven's breathing getting difficult. He moved a little closer, a little worried about him. Raven glared at Atherin, but didn't say anything; his lungs refused such an action.

When Atherin didn't receive an answer he hesitated, but reached out to Raven's shoulder. He was unsure about what he would do, but he couldn't stand to see him suffer. Raven suddenly pulled out the silver knife, holding it an inch from Atherin's throat. He narrowed his eyes threateningly, hate and anger in his eyes.

Atherin froze. He knew that this was only because of the hallucinations but it still terrified him. And it hurt him too, after hearing Raven say over and over again that he wouldn't ever use silver on him. If Raven's hallucinations this time were because he thought that he had attacked him again then...was Raven lying to him? He was shaking slightly, trying to keep from showing it, but his eyes gave him away as his terror and hurt shone through. Raven tightened his grip on the knife, narrowing his eyes further. He knew Atherin was afraid...

Atherin's mind was screaming at him to move, but his body had seized up on him. He saw and heard Raven tightening his grip on his knife and he knew that if Raven wanted to he could hurt him severely. Raven pushed the silver-edged blade a little closer; there was less than an inch between Atherin's throat and the blade. His gaze met Atherin's; his violet eyes holding nothing except pain, anger and hate.

Now wasn't the time for him to be scared out of his mind. He needed to get that blade away from his throat. He had a feeling that Raven would actually press it into his throat next if he didn't do something. Before Raven could react, Atherin had grabbed his wrist with the knife and pushed it away from him, holding his wrist above Raven's head.

Raven cried out in agony as Atherin pinned him, his shoulder burning in pain. He stared at Atherin, his eyes wide in fear and pain. He could feel warm blood from his wounds dripping down his side; his labored breathing quickening as he realized Atherin had a clear shot at his neck. Atherin realized that he was starting to make Raven panic. He kept his hold onto Raven's wrist, but lowered his arm, un-pinning him. He could also tell that Raven was in more pain, so he decided to help, whether or not Raven wanted him too. With his free hand, he started to ease the pain in Raven's shoulder by using an energy transfer. He hoped that now Raven understood that he had only wanted to help him and that he was not the one that had bitten him.

Raven's breath caught in his throat when he felt Atherin's hand on his injured shoulder. He tensed and struggled weakly against him, thinking he'd feel Atherin's fangs in his neck any second. "...Raven...hold still... I'm not gonna hurt you..." Atherin said quietly, trying to get him to calm down. His energy transfer was starting to ease the pain and seal the wounds a little. At least the bleeding had stopped.

"I've heard that before, and yet I'm still covered in scars from your fangs and claws..." Raven growled weakly, glaring at him through narrowed, pained eyes. That was something that Driacoul had said to him. Hearing Raven say it was a hundred times worse. He reminded himself that it was just the hallucinations and that Raven didn't mean it...he hoped. He finished his energy transfer and removed his hand from Raven's shoulder, but he still kept his hold on the wrist that held the weapon.

Raven struggled against him, trying to get free. His breathing was getting more difficult, and he was growing weaker. He didn't know what Atherin was waiting for; he had a clear shot at his neck, and didn't have the strength or mobility to defend himself.

Atherin didn't look at Raven. He just held his wrist to keep the silver blade from his throat again. He was still trying to figure out why Raven had tried to use it against him in the first place... He had said that no matter what he wouldn't use it against him...even though he himself had said it was okay... He was just trying to figure out if Raven was lying to him...since he already knew that silver terrified him. Raven continued to struggle, starting to panic. He was terrified, staring at Atherin with pained, fearful eyes.

Atherin didn't want Raven to panic or hurt himself. So, he pried the knife out of his hand, gently, and tossed it behind him, releasing his wrist as he did so. The only way Raven could get to it again would have to be through him, and he hoped that it didn't come to that. Raven stared at Atherin in fear. He was completely defenseless, and that terrified him even more.

Atherin made no more moves after that. He wasn't looking at Raven, not even meeting his eyes. He was hurting on the inside, but constantly reminding himself that Raven didn't really mean it. Raven was breathing heavily, struggling to catch his breath. He was having a difficult time breathing, but he tried to hide it, not wanting to show weakness in front of Atherin.

Atherin could hear how troublesome Raven's breathing had become. He didn't make any moves that he took notice of it. He knew that Raven was afraid that he'd attack him, but of course, he wouldn't. Raven tried to move, but cried out in pain, his body suddenly sore and painful. He pressed himself back against the wall as far as he could as he tried to protect himself. Atherin looked up to Raven when he heard him cry out in pain. "Raven? What's wrong?"

Raven gritted his teeth to keep from yelping, glaring back at Atherin. He wasn't going to tell the vampire anything "Raven... If I seriously wanted to hurt you, don't you think I would have done so by now? I just want to help, nothing more." Raven narrowed his eyes at Atherin, before he looked over to Shadow. She was looking between them in worry. She hadn't made a move, unsure of who to help. "Shadow..." Raven groaned, "Stop him!"

That took Atherin by surprise. Raven had never used Shadow against him before. He didn't know what to do, or what Shadow would do, but he braced himself nevertheless. Shadow looked between the two and whined. She didn't want to hurt Atherin, he hadn't hurt her Raven, but she didn't want to disobey Raven either. Raven was shocked when Shadow didn't do what he told her to do. He turned and glared at Atherin. "What did you d-do to her?! You 'charmed' her, didn't you?!" he snapped.

Atherin knew that anything he said would be considered a lie to Raven, but he answered anyway. "No Raven. I didn't 'charm' her. I don't even like to 'charm' people." Atherin replied. Raven narrowed his eyes disbelievingly. Atherin was lying to him again, he knew it. He tried to move again, but his entire body hurt. He only just managed to keep himself from yelping aloud.

Atherin saw the way that Raven looked at him. How was he going to prove to Raven that he wasn't the one that hurt him. A foolish thought crossed his mind, but if it made Raven believe him then he'd do so. He stood up, and slowly backed away from Raven. He reached where the silver blade had landed and picked it up, making sure to not touch the blade himself. He then walked back over to Raven, though not as close as he had been before, before placing the blade in front of him. If this didn't prove to Raven that he was not the one that had hurt him then he didn't know what would.

Raven stared at Atherin in confusion. He didn't know what he was plotting, but to him it looked like he was trying to bait him. As soon as he reached for the knife, he'd attack. He didn't fall for it, and glared at Atherin. "Glare at me all you want Raven, but I'm not gonna attack, hurt, whatever your mind is imagining me doing." Raven narrowed his eyes further. Atherin was lying to him again. His breathing was getting worse, but he didn't show it outwardly.

Atherin could see that he was getting no where with this. He sighed and leaned back against the bed, but he made sure to be at the ready should Raven try to hurt him with the silver blade again. Raven looked away from Atherin, his worsening breathing demanding his attention. Atherin could hear Raven's worsening breathing. He wouldn't make any moves towards him, unless he started to scratch at himself like he had.

Raven looked down at the knife. He wanted to grab it, but he didn't have the strength to. Atherin had done something to him; he feared he had poisoned him. Atherin saw Raven's gaze on the silver knife in front of him. He was _not_ going to just hand it to him. Raven grabbed weakly at his throat, his breathing getting more and more difficult. He didn't know what was causing it or the pain, but he knew Atherin had to have done it.

Atherin looked over to Raven when he did that. He was getting worried by his breathing, even more so by the fact that Raven was still hallucinating... Raven tried to turn away from Atherin, but he was too weak. He knew Atherin knew he was weak, and that scared him more. Atherin knew better than to make any move towards Raven. He wasn't clawing at himself, so he wasn't causing any harm to himself. He'd wait. He'd wait until he was needed to stop Raven from hurting himself.

Raven glared at Atherin again. He was still afraid for his life. Atherin didn't back down from Raven's glare. He kept telling himself that Raven didn't mean any of this. Raven lowered his gaze, his breathing getting worse. He was struggling to catch his breath, something affecting his lungs. Seeing Raven backing down wasn't something that Atherin was use to seeing, and that worried him. "....Raven...?"

Raven glared at him weakly, but didn't say anything. He felt himself getting weaker, and his breathing getting more difficult. Atherin couldn't stand it anymore. He got closer to Raven, in an attempt to try and make sure Raven didn't hurt himself. He didn't realize that he had kicked the blade closer to Raven as he did so. His worry for Raven's condition out weighed his own well being.

Raven grabbed the knife, pointing it at Atherin. He was struggling to breathe and weakening, but he was going to at least try and defend himself. Atherin stopped again. He had forgotten about the knife and sure he was scared of having it pointed at him again, but Raven's weakening condition and breathing was really starting to worry him. That and the fact that his hallucinations seem to be lasting longer than his... Raven narrowed his eyes, tightening his grip on the knife. His hand was shaking, weakening further.

Atherin's eyes quickly flicked to the shaking knife and then back to Raven. He could see Raven weaken further. It was only a matter of time before he would be too weak to do anything. Raven glared, pushing the blade a little closer. The fact that Atherin wasn't showing as much fear terrified him further. The blade was getting heavier in his hand, and he knew Atherin knew it.

Atherin leaned back a little. He was worried about Raven's condition, but him getting silver in his system wouldn't help either of them. He was still waiting for when Raven wouldn't be able to do much against him. Raven gritted his teeth, the pain in his lungs getting worse. But he wasn't going to let Atherin anywhere near him, not as long as he could still move.

Atherin stayed back, even though he just wanted to help Raven. He hoped that this hallucination ended soon, or switched to something else. He was really starting to hurt on the inside, if this was the reaction that he was getting because Raven thought that he had 'bitten' him again... Raven groaned the point of the knife lowering. His eyes closed slightly, suddenly tired.

Atherin relaxed only slightly when he saw the knife point lower. He still wouldn't get any closer, not when Raven was desperate to stay alive because he thought that he would hurt him. Raven tried to hold the knife higher, but he couldn't. He was too weak. The knife fell to the ground, leaving him defenseless...

Atherin relaxed more when he saw the knife hit the floor. He felt that it was safe enough to at least get Raven back onto the bed and off the floor. He ventured closer to Raven, but didn't touch him, just incase Raven was only trying to make him lower his guard. Raven glared at Atherin. "L-leave me... alone..."

Atherin shook his head 'no'. He wasn't going to just leave him alone, he was going to help him, whether Raven liked it or not. Feeling that it was now safe to touch him, Atherin reached out and grabbed Raven's uninjured arm, pulling him up gently as he stood. Raven struggled weakly against him. "L-let me go!" he cried desperately, trying to get free. The contact hurt him. "S-stop!" Atherin sat him down on the bed, letting go of him. He then picked up Raven's legs and swung them onto the bed, without causing him too much pain. When he was done, he sat on the bed next to Raven's.

Raven stared at Atherin, his breathing quick and panicked. He didn't know why Atherin had done that, but he didn't like it. Atherin just sat on the bed next to Raven's. He was worried to say the least, and he was having a hard time reminding himself that Raven wasn't himself. However, after having been threatened with silver to his throat twice, it was getting a little hard to convince himself of that.

Raven looked away, beginning to feel strange. The hallucination changed, and he looked around, trying to figure out where he was. Atherin immediately knew that Raven's hallucination had changed again. He wouldn't have been looking around; he'd have been keeping an eye on him if he was still in the last one. "...Something wrong?" Raven jumped slightly and looked at him, blinking. "Where am I? And who're you?"

/...Yep...his hallucination has definitely changed./ Atherin thought when Raven gave him a questioning look. "You're in a medical facility... And I'm Atherin." Raven blinked in surprise. "How'd I get here? What happened?" /What to tell him...? I can't say 'you were attacked by and Organoid'... Guess I'll go with my lie from earlier.../ "I brought you here... You were alone and I thought you were hurt..." Raven cocked his head slightly. "I was alone?" he asked, "The last thing I remember was that I was with my sister Silvia and her friend Jadow..."

"...There wasn't anyone else around... Perhaps you got separated?" Raven blinked again. "I was all alone? Where was I when you found me?" /...Jeez... He's gonna trap me in my own lie... How to answer him... Oh well... Here goes nothin'.../ "I found you in your Zoid..." "Noah? Oh... I must have fallen asleep piloting again..." Raven sighed. "...That's...not a very good habit to form...." Atherin replied, relieved that Raven had bought his story.

Raven nodded. "I know... I guess I was just really tired from helping mom and dad at the dig..." Atherin only nodded. He didn't want to get caught in his lie and panic Raven. It wouldn't do and getting him to calm down again would be near impossible. Raven looked around again. "Where did you say I was again? This place looks familiar..." "A medical facility." Atherin answered. Technically they were in Horai, but telling that to Raven would spell disaster.

Raven looked around again. "No... This place looks _really_ familiar..." "....I think all medical facilities look alike... Might you just be confusing this one with a different one?" Raven looked around for another minute. "Maybe..." he said, shrugging. Atherin almost sighed in relief, but caught himself. That would haven been a dead give away that he was lying.

Raven looked around again. "Why did you think I was injured? Was I bleeding or something?" "Just a little... Your shoulder was bleeding and you had a scratch on it... I just couldn't bandage it and just leave you there..." Raven sat on the edge of the bed and looked at Atherin. "Thanks..." he said, smiling, "But... I don't remember getting hurt..." "I don't know what to tell you then... I just found you and bandaged you up." Atherin replied.

"Where was I when you found me?" Raven asked, trying to remember what had happened. "...You were in the desert..." Atherin answered off of the top of his head. "Really? Noah must have wandered off a good ways when I dozed off..." Atherin nodded again. He didn't want to say too much to get busted.

Raven looked around again, and saw Shadow. "What's that? An Organoid?" "Yeah... Her name's Shadow..." Shadow lifted her head and walked over. She wagged her tail and licked Raven, making him giggle. "She's friendly... is she yours?" Atherin shook his head 'no'. Shadow wasn't his and he was sure that if he told Raven other wise he'd get a sharp whack to the head with Shadow's tail. "She's not mine..."

Shadow licked him again, making Raven giggle again. "If she doesn't belong to you, then who does she belong to?" "She belongs to my friend. His name's Raven... He left her here while he went to go get something..." Atherin felt pretty dumb, talking about Raven when he was right there in front of him. But he could tell that right now his name was 'Joyce' again, so he didn't know who Raven was. Shadow looked at Atherin oddly. Raven was right there, so what was he talking about? She ignored him and went right back to licking Raven. Atherin saw Shadow's look. He couldn't explain what was happening to her at the moment, so he'd just have to deal with it. Right now, things were looking alright.

Shadow continued licking Raven, until Raven started coughing. "Atherin.... why is it hard to breathe?" he asked, coughing again. /Shit... I forgot about his breathing... I could play dumb and act like I don't know about it... It's worth a shot.../ "You're having troubles breathing? Would you like for me to ease the coughing?" Raven looked at Atherin. "How can you do that?" he asked, still stroking Shadow. "I can use something called an energy transfer. It'll help with your breathing problems..." Raven cocked his head. "How? What _are_ you?"

/I can't say 'vampire'...like last time, but perhaps something else.../ "I'm an Ancient Zoidian... I have a healing ability..." Atherin lied again, showing Raven the soft glow in his hand, but not touching him until the shock from Raven wore off. He hated lying to him, but 'Ancient Zoidian' was better and safer to be than 'vampire' at the moment. Raven stared at him. "A Zoidian? But I thought they all died..." "...Not all of us were killed... Some of us managed to survive." Atherin replied. He knew enough about Zoidians that he could get away with this.

Raven blinked. "How can you help make it not hurt?" "Like this." Atherin said as he showed the small light green sphere in his hand to Raven again. "I won't use it unless you tell me to." Raven looked at him for a second. "O-okay..."

Atherin brought his hand up to Raven's chest, and pressed his hand to it as the energy transfer radiated from his palm. It helped ease Raven's breathing, something he had been trying to do ever since he noticed Raven having trouble breathing. After a few seconds he pulled his hand back, the green light disappeared and Raven's breathing becoming much easier. Raven was amazed at how much better he felt. He looked up at Atherin. "Thank you!" he said, hugging him.

Needless to say, Atherin was taken by surprise when Raven suddenly hugged him. /At least _now_ he can't poke fun at me anymore.../ "Ah...um... You're welcome...?" Raven let go and looked around again. "So... what town am I in now?" he asked, looking around. "...You're near...Alca..." Raven blinked. "Noah wandered that far?! I'm almost to Uncle Daniel's!" /No, you're already _at_ Horai...but I'm not gonna let you know that... You'll try to go find Donnie and your Uncle... Which will not be good.../ "Your uncle lives near here?" Raven nodded. "He and my brother live in a big Zoid near here..."

/Now what to tell him... I think I like the one where he thinks I'm being mind controlled better than this... At least _then_ I could lie and not really get caught...especially with the fear of Donnie coming in here... Dear Eve...what have I gotten myself into now? / "Is that so... I'm relatively new here, so I don't know much about the area..." Raven blinked and giggled slightly. "You must be blind if you missed it!"

"Perhaps so, I normally don't leave this place...it's a wonder I'm able to find my way back when I do leave." Raven laughed. "You need to get out more!" "I would if there weren't so many people interested in me. I'm safe here. So they can't take me from here." Atherin replied, knowing that Ancient Zoidians and Organoids were popular to look for and 'possess'. "That makes sense..." Raven said, "But why were you out when you found me?"

"Raven's idea of a 'joke'… 'Let's see how long it takes the Ancient Zoidian to find his way back'. I merely stumbled upon you..." Shadow snorted and thwacked Atherin with her tail. She didn't like people talking like that about 'her' Raven. Raven started laughing. "He sounds funny..." Atherin rubbed the landing site of Shadow's tail. "Oh yeah... He's real funny alright..." Atherin replied, dodging Shadow's tail this time. Raven laughed again. "I'd like to meet him sometime!" he said, reaching over and petting Shadow, making her purr. "I don't think he'll be back any time soon..." Atherin said.

"That's a shame..." Raven sighed, until something caught his eye. "Hey, what's that?" he asked, pointing to the silver knife on the ground. Atherin looked to the silver knife that Raven was pointing to. "That's my pocket knife... It must have fallen out when I placed you on the bed..."

"Oh okay..." Raven said, before he lowered his head slightly, "I... I feel kinda weird..." "Lay down... You'll feel better if you do." Before he could, Raven groaned, swaying slightly. He was feeling extremely lightheaded, and was getting dizzy... Atherin got up from where he was sitting, and caught Raven before he fell forward. He once again swung his legs back onto the bed and made sure he laid down. Raven passed out less than a second later, the venom having taken its toll on him.

Atherin sat back down and breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that Raven would be fine after this, but he'd stay and make sure his breathing didn't do anything like his did. Raven groaned weakly, still in pain from the venom. Atherin looked over to him when he heard him still in pain. He hoped that he was alright, and would possibly wake up normal... A little while later, Raven started to stir. He opened his eyes slightly, blinking slowly and looking around…

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_**Author's Note:**_ Not how they wanted to spend their afternoon I'm sure, but it can't be changed. However, how will Raven take what he almost did when Atherin tells him? And, will Atherin be able to pry some information out of him concerning some things that happened? You'll just have to wait and find out!! Please Review!!


	30. Recovery and Lecture

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do __**NOT**__ own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul, Rika, Avea and Serrer do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to me. The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if you use Redai without my permission, but if you use Jurei please make note of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ Last chapter Rika got a hold of Raven and his hallucinations were fun for Atherin. However, this next chapter explains a few things and calms the story down a little after what has just happened recently.

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me. Thanks to all of you that Reviewed!!

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Ͽ Recovery and Lectures Ͼ

Atherin noticed Raven awake. He hoped that he was back to normal now. "Raven? How're you feeling?" Raven sat up slightly and shook his head. "I've... been better..." he groaned. Atherin sighed, relieved... "At least you're back to normal..." Raven looked over at him. "You alright?" "No physical damage and minimal mental damage... I'm fine."

Raven blinked and looked around for a moment, and saw the silver knife on the ground. "Oh Eve..." he breathed, turning to Atherin, "What did I do?!" "Threatened me…" Atherin replied a little quietly. Raven's eyes widened in horror, "I... I'm sorry, Atherin..."

Atherin sighed. He knew that it was just the hallucinations talking, but it still scared him. "I know... I know that you didn't mean it...but you sure as hell scared me when you pulled it out on me..." Raven lowered his gaze. He felt terrible for threatening him. "Raven... It's alright. I'm fine. You didn't hurt me." "But still...I threatened you with silver... even after I promised I'd never use it on you..."

"It's in the past Raven. I'm not mad, and it only hurt for a little bit until I reminded myself that you didn't mean it." Raven sighed, and nodded. "What else... did I do?"

"You were scared of me for the longest time... The first one seemed to be after Noah... The second...you accused me of being mind controlled by a white Organoid with blue fur... The third...well...let's just say I didn't like that one... And the last one you seemed to be about seven... You thought that Noah had wandered off and that I was an Ancient Zoidian... You hugged me in that one... I say we're even..." Raven blinked in shock. "I... hugged you?!" he said, "Jeez.... I'm glad I don't remember that..." he said, smirking slightly

"Yeah... Your breathing had gotten worse and I eased it. When I was done you took me by surprise and hugged me... you even said 'Thank you'." Atherin replied, smirking a little as well. Raven blinked. "Holy Helkat... I'm _very_ glad I don't remember that...." he said, smirking as well. "I had a fun time with that last one. You gave me some much needed practice in lying." Atherin said lightly. Raven rolled his eyes. "Glad I could help..." he said sarcastically.

"Anyways... Why didn't you ever tell me that you were nearly eaten by an Organoid?" Raven flinched slightly when he mentioned that. "I... haven't told... anyone... about that..." "Sorry... I'm prying where I shouldn't be..." Atherin replied. "It's alright... you deserve to know..." Raven said. "You don't need to tell me... I can tell that this is a sensitive subject for you. "It's okay Atherin..." Raven said quietly. Atherin sighed. "Alright…if you really want to get it off your chest, then I'll listen... I won't tell any one about it..."

Raven nodded. "A few months after Prozen adopted me, he sent me and a small group of soldiers to the Altar Mountains..." "Is...that where you were...attacked?" Raven nodded slowly. "The first day we were there, nothing really happened. But that night was when... 'She' came… That night... after everyone had fallen asleep, Shadow and I went away from the camp. I couldn't sleep, and wanted to watch the stars. 'She' came when I was too far away to call for help..."

Atherin remained quiet. The best thing would be for Raven to tell this with out him interrupting him. Raven lowered his gaze a little. "Shadow... I was still warming up to her. She used to give me space, to let me be on my own. That night, she went back to camp after a few minutes, and let me be alone. That was when 'she' came..." I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have been, and 'she' snuck up on me. 'She'... can turn invisible... and move through objects like a ghost... I didn't have a clue she was there until she was literally right on top of me..."

Atherin was a little surprised by this Organoid's abilities. From what Raven had told him earlier she also had mind control in her arsenal as well. "She... she appeared right in front of me... I should have screamed or called for Shadow, but I was so surprised that I didn't. She didn't attack me immediately... she just... talked to me for a few minutes..."

"...She was...trying to lower your guard?" Raven nodded. "Her voice... it was... almost hypnotic... I couldn't help but listen to her. I couldn't think anymore; she was basically controlling me, keeping me from running away or calling for help..." "...That must be why you kept telling me that she was controlling my mind..." Atherin mused to himself.

Raven nodded again. "She kept talking to me... and because I was hypnotized, I couldn't do anything. Her eyes glowed in the dark, they were red; that was why I panicked when you went into your first blood lust, your eyes were the same color as hers..." "...It's not like I can change what color they turn to..." Atherin said quietly. "I know..." Raven said, "Her eyes fixed me to the spot; I just couldn't look away from them. She continued talking to me, telling me that I wasn't in any danger and that I was fine, even though she was just keeping me occupied before she struck..." Atherin nodded again. He remembered some stories that his mother use to tell him. Sometimes, she'd siren her way to a meal too...

"Because her voice and eyes had me so distracted, I didn't even realize she had coiled herself around me. I couldn't even move to get my communicator out of my pocket; her voice was that hypnotic..." "I can guess how hypnotic her voice could have been... She probably sounded like a siren didn't she?" Atherin asked.

Raven nodded. "Her voice was almost motherly; I couldn't resist her. I couldn't even feel anymore, so when she tightened her coils around me and started constricting me it took me a few minutes to even register it..." "That...sounds like a pretty nasty...ability..." Atherin said, knowing that his mother had used similar techniques... He could use them too, but he didn't like to...

Raven nodded. "She... constricted me like a snake, and stopped talking to me, so I regained feeling, just so she could hear me crying out in pain as she slowly choked and crushed me. I tried to get free, but I was no match, she was much too strong. I could hardly breathe; I didn't even have the breath to scream when she started nibbling and biting at me..." "...She...constricted you like a snake...? Then...you were unfortunate enough to run into a Serpaire Organoid...." Atherin replied quietly.

Raven nodded. "But... what's a Serpaire? My parents never mentioned that species before..." Raven asked.

"Well...how to put this... Appearance wise, Serpaire are dragon-like and all have some sort of organic looking fur... Nearly all Serpaire can phase through things and can turn invisible... Their scales are actually their armor plating and I don't think I need to tell you about their teeth and jaws... The female Serpaire can spit a poisoned glue like substance while the males can only spit slightly acidic glue-like substance... They can also create a cocoon with the glue-like substance... The females can siren, as you already know...and all of them can hypnotize with their eyes... They also all constrict their...prey...and usually swallow it whole... I don't know if this helps explains what they are exactly, but that's all that I know about them..."

Raven blinked and stared at Atherin. The fact that the Organoid that had attacked him could have killed him so easily and yet hadn't scared him even worse. Atherin saw the fear in Raven's eyes. Perhaps...he shouldn't have given such a...detailed...explanation... "I didn't mean to make it sound...so gruesome...but from my knowledge...some Serpaire like to...play with their food...in order to lower their guard..." Raven lowered his gaze, shuddering slightly. "S-she was... playing with me... if you c-can call it p-play... until... Shadow came..."

"I know that my...explanation...probably wasn't the best, but it's in the past now... And you're not alone either... Shadow hardly lets you out of her sights now, and coupled with Ibeyla and me, I don't think it'll be likely to happen again..." Raven nodded slightly. "I... haven't told anyone... about what happened to me that night... except for Karl. He found Shadow and I when no one checked in from the group, but I never told him what all happened..."

"I can understand that... There are things that you really...don't want other people to know... We all have them...." Atherin replied quietly. Raven nodded. Atherin was the first person he had told about the attack, and it had brought back bad memories. Atherin didn't know what he could do for Raven at the moment. So he instead thought about the hallucination that Raven had had and accused him of being under mind control... / what was the name he said again...? Ser…rer... Serrer!!? No fricken way... It can't be the same one.../

Raven looked up, seeing Atherin's shocked expression. "Atherin? Something wrong?" "...Well... I think...I think I know....the Serpaire that...attacked you...." Atherin replied quietly, almost too quietly for Raven to hear him. Raven's eyes widened. "What?!" Atherin didn't answer him. It was just too much to be a coincidence... Even he couldn't fully accept it. "Atherin? What's wrong?" Raven asked again.

"....I don't know... It's...a little difficult for me to accept the fact that it was the same Serrer that had attacked you..." Raven blinked. "Same Serrer...? Wait... you _knew_ the Organoid that attacked me?!" "That's what I said a minute ago...didn't I?" Raven shook his head 'no'. He didn't know what to think at the moment.

"...Well...back when I was little...a Serpaire was a welcomed friend in my village... Her name was Serrer... She use to watch us when our parents went out hunting or something or other... So...it's a little hard for me to accept the fact that she'd hurt you..." Raven blinked and stared at Atherin. "You... you were... friends with the Organoid that nearly _ate_ me?!" He exclaimed. "In my defense, I didn't know you then. I haven't seen her for about five years now…" Raven blinked. "But... she didn't attack you?"

"No... She didn't... She babysat me and my siblings... There were plenty of opportunities were she could have... She was never aggressive towards anyone in the village..." Raven blinked in surprise. "But... why?"

"....She...she liked...vampires... She liked humans too until the day the village was destroyed..." Atherin answered. "Lucky you..." Raven groaned, "She was all nice and gentle to you, but tried to eat me..." Atherin looked down, "...Sorry..." "It's not your fault she snapped and decided to take it out on me..." Raven said. Atherin only nodded. He still couldn't believe that she'd attack and try to eat him. She was so good with kids... "I guess that the attack on your village must have made her go mad..."

"Yeah... Her mate was killed as well as the village she called home... She has a reason to hate humans now..." Raven blinked. "That would explain it..." Again, Atherin only nodded. Thinking about Serrer brought back his memories that he'd rather forget. Atherin wasn't too sure if she was still alive, she wasn't there in the village so he couldn't tell for sure. He was also glad that Raven seemed to have missed the fact that he seemed nervous when he was talking about Serrer's siren ability... Raven didn't yet know of that skill...

Raven looked up. "You alright?" "Just fine. I'm still trying to...take all this in." Raven nodded. "She might be back at Jurei... she might still go back there every now and then... maybe if we have to go back she'll be there?" Raven said, the very notion terrifying him. "...She hasn't ever come back before though.... Why would she now? The place probably holds too many awful memories for her to go back..."

"Well... you still go back..." Raven said. "Yes, but Tyme doesn't. I asked him why he hasn't before and he answered that he can't go back... I think...it has to do with the fact that he was on the frontlines... The notion of powerlessness he feels is a hundred times greater than mine..." Raven nodded. "I'm the same with the ruins where Noah went down... I can't go anywhere near there..." "I would assume that it's the same reason why she doesn't go back..." Atherin replied.

Raven looked up at Atherin again. "Hey Atherin... why were you so nervous when I was talking about Serrer's abilities?" Atherin blinked at the sudden question. "...Umm....'no comment'? Is that good enough for you?" Raven narrowed his eyes. "No... No its not..." Atherin sighed, seeing that there was no way out of this. "...Well...some of Serrer's abilities...are also...vampire abilities..." Raven blinked. "W-what?"

"'No comment' is starting to look pretty good right about now isn't it?" Atherin joked. "But, to answer you a little better... Serpaire aren't the only ones that can siren…" Raven blinked again. ".... Are you serious?" Atherin nodded. "Yes. I'm serious." Raven stared at him. "Does that mean... _You_ can?"

"....To a certain extent... If I had to classify it, it'd be more of a 'charmed' infused voice... I don't sing. So get that silly notion outta your head right now." Raven narrowed his eyes. "I don't think that's funny, Atherin..." he said seriously. "You think I've sirened you, don't you?" Atherin asked. "I don't know..." Raven said, "I just don't think it's a joking matter..."

"It's not. Do you understand why I didn't want to tell you about this Eve forsaken ability? 'Cause now, you're gonna think that I've been using it the entire time..." Atherin replied, his eyes downcast. "No, I don't think you have..." Raven said. "But you think that I might at some point and time..." Raven shook his head no. "No, I trust you haven't nor will..." "I hate the ability too much to even think about using it... Unless it's desperate..." Atherin sighed. "You've... _used_ it?" Raven asked. "On accident... It's not an experience that I want to go through again..." Raven blinked. "An 'accident'?"

"...It happened when I was about twelve... I couldn't stand the thought of 'hunting' children when I was but a child myself...so...I opted to go for adults... Only...there was a problem with that... At the time I was hardly any stronger than a human child...so I thought I could 'charm' them... Well...there was a problem with that too... I didn't know how to 'charm'... So...after a while I figured it out... And when I did, I was so proud of myself that I spoke out loud...and infused it to my voice... When I learned what I had done I tried to get it to stop...but I couldn't... I think I had the 'siren' ability for at least three days before I got it to stop... I haven't used it since..."

Raven snickered slightly. "Way to go, Dracula..." "Shut it... It was a miracle that I was able to figure out how to 'charm' in the first place...and even more so getting it to stop. Like I've told you before, I've had to learn every thing by trial and error..." Atherin replied. "Yeah well... sounds like you did a good job..." Raven joked.

"Ha-ha... You should consider yourself lucky that you're not an experimentee." Raven rolled his eyes. "You wouldn't..." "I seem to recall you saying something like that before... Tell me...what happened again?" Atherin smirked. Raven narrowed his eyes. "Well... that was just one time..." "But it still happened, that you can't deny. I guess you _are_ lucky though... I don't have anything I really need to practice on, except 'healing'... Looks like you're off the hook...for now..." Atherin teased. Raven rolled his eyes. "Yeah... lucky me..."

Atherin chuckled before his gaze fell back onto the knife that was still on the floor. He wasn't about to pick it up again. Once was enough, and even then he didn't want to do so. Raven followed his gaze and sighed. "I'm really sorry about... what happened, Atherin..." he said quietly, picking up the blade. Atherin followed the blade with his eyes. He couldn't help but be nervous about the blade that had been held to his throat...twice... He knew that Raven didn't mean it, but that still didn't mean that Raven wouldn't hurt him in that state...if given the chance... "Don't worry about it Raven. You didn't hurt me when you could have. And even then I still wouldn't blame you."

Raven nodded. "But still... I broke my promise..." "Raven...don't worry about it. I'm not mad. I know that you'd never do so consciously." Raven nodded and put the knife away. He was still angry at himself for threatening his friend. "Come on now... I know that you're angry with yourself. If you need to be angry with anyone then it should be Rika, as she's the one that did this." Raven nodded slightly. He knew it was her fault for this, but he couldn't help but be a little angry with himself. Raven looked up at Atherin. "Atherin... what did I...do when I... snapped?"

"Well... You glared at me a lot and you refused my help with scathing comments... You tried to have Shadow attack me once, but when she didn't, you accused me of 'charming' her. Then your wounds started acting up as well as your breathing. I couldn't just sit there and do nothing, so...I 'tried' to help. Only...you still had your knife on you... You held it about an inch from my throat and for the longest time I thought you were really going to hurt me... You even moved it closer to my throat when I didn't back off from trying to 'heal' you... When I snapped out of my stunned daze, I took the knife from you, as you were still holding it... I threw it behind me to show you that I wasn't going to hurt you, but you obviously thought other wise. After 'healing' I thought it'd calm you or at least make you reconsider your initial thought, so I went and kicked the knife back to you, but you'd have to reach for it. You didn't, and instead grabbed it again when I accidently kicked it closer to you when your breathing got worse. Needless to say, I was held at knife point again... I just waited until you couldn't hold it any more before I got you back on to the bed... You didn't like that either, but shortly after that, your hallucination changed... That's about all that happened..."

Raven blinked and stared at him. He didn't realize how close he had come to really hurting Atherin. He lowered his gaze away from him, beating himself up for doing that to his friend. "We're not gonna have any of this now... It's in the past, and its best left there. I'm gonna say this one more time. You. Did. Not. Hurt. Me." Raven sighed. "I know I didn't... but I still threatened you..." "You're not gonna just drop it are ya? What can I possibly say to make you do so?"

Raven shrugged. He didn't think anything would be able to get this out of his mind. "You're making this rather difficult on my end..." "Sorry..." Raven said quietly. Atherin sighed, before an idea hit him. "You know...you were pretty easy to fool when you were little..." Raven rolled his eyes. "Well, you're not exactly the worst liar either..." "I still can't believe you bought the fact that I was an Ancient Zoidian... You didn't even question me about it!" Raven sighed. "Well... I wasn't the hardest person to fool when I was little..."

"So I noticed...but I had one hell of a time convincing you that this wasn't Horai... Things would have been disastrous if you had found out..." Raven smirked. "Once I have my mind set on something, I'm hard to convince otherwise..." "But I managed it. I told you that _all_ medical facilities look the same and that you had just mistaken it for a different one. You bought it, and then asked me about Shadow... Do you know how weird it is to talk about you to you? And no, I didn't say anything bad about you."

Raven smirked. "How well did Shadow take that?" "She gave me a weird look but didn't do anything until I had to explain how I found you in the middle of the desert..." Raven sighed. "What did you say about me?" "Nothing bad. You asked how I found you in the desert if I hardly leave this place, and I told the younger you that it was your idea of a joke. As in, seeing how long it takes the 'Ancient Zoidian' to find his way back. Shadow didn't find it very funny, but you did."

Raven rolled his eyes. "I bet you had fun..." "With the last one, yes, I had fun with that one. The first three, not so much..." "Yeah..." Raven said, before he grew downcast again. "Again? Do I really have to 'charm' you to make you stop thinking back on that?" "You better not..." Raven replied. "Then what will make you feel better about it?" Raven shrugged. He honestly couldn't think of anything. "...Don't make me get Tyme in here... He'll make sure you stop drowning yourself in this..." "Threatening me isn't helping..." Raven said. "Can't we call it even now? I had threatened you and now you had threatened me. I think we're even in that aspect." Atherin tried to persuade. "...." Raven didn't answer. "You are _so_ not making this easy..." Atherin grumbled. Raven didn't react, not even looking up.

Atherin stood up. He couldn't think of anything else to do to get Raven to react to him. He switched seats and sat down on the bed next to Raven. He could wait for when Raven would speak again. He was a very patient vampire. Raven didn't even look up at Atherin. He felt terrible about what he had done to him. Atherin remained silent. He was just going to wait for when he decided to speak again. He thought that it might be best if Raven got all his venting about what he had done out of his system. Raven finally had had enough of the silence. He got to his feet and started to walk away.

Atherin got up as well, but stopped him, laying a hand on his shoulder. He didn't know how Raven would react, but he wasn't going to let Raven walk out on him. It'd make him feel as if he had been the one to cause this... Raven pushed his hand off and walked towards the door. He felt horrible about what he had done, and didn't want to make Atherin feel any worse by him being there.

Atherin didn't make another attempt at stopping him. His mind couldn't comprehend why Raven was pushing him away and isolating himself... "...You're...walking out on me... I'll feel awful if you walk through that door... I've already told you, I'm fine, both physically and mentally..." Raven stopped, but didn't turn around or look at him. He still felt awful about threatening him.

Atherin silently walked over to him. Raven didn't even know he had moved until he saw Atherin's feet in front of him. "You're afraid... You're afraid to face me. What did you expect to find when you turned around or looked me in the eyes? A stormy glare? I can cut that notion short by telling you no. You'd find concerned eyes looking back at you. You hate it when I get all riled up... I hate it when you get like this. You won't say anything, and you push away the people that're just trying to help you."

Raven sighed. "It's just because... I'm not used to people helping me or forgiving me so easily..." "Neither am I. Not many people are willing to help a vampire and even less actually forgive. I'm still not use to it, but I'm starting to... You're just gonna have to get use to it too 'cause I'm not gonna just let you be." Raven nodded slightly, sighing.

"Now...are you gonna let me help you or do I have to lecture you again?" Atherin said lightly. Raven sighed. "As long as you don't lecture me, fine, but can we go outside or something? I don't like it in here...." "...Alright...but let me grab that cursed sword from my room... We're not going back outside with out the both of us armed." Raven nodded, and waited for him to get his weapon.

Atherin left the medical wing and took off toward his room. He found the disgusting thing in his closet, right where he had shoved it. He strapped it so it was behind him on his waist, the hilt sticking off to the right. He didn't really like it on his back, he felt constricted that way. When he was done, he went to go find Raven. Raven hadn't moved from the spot. He looked over when he saw Atherin. "Can we go outside?"

Atherin nodded. He allowed Raven out and followed beside him to the garden. Hopefully this time, they wouldn't be ambushed. Raven walked over to the pond and sat down under the tree, leaning against it to try to relax. Atherin sat in the shade as well. Considering that they were attacked earlier in the day made him a little on edge. Atherin noticed how quiet Raven was but decided to let him keep his silence this time. He had lectured Raven enough for the day, and now it was up to him to find the courage to actually speak to him again. Raven didn't say anything, continuing to stare into the pond. He felt horrible about threatening Atherin, and just couldn't shake off his feeling of guilt.

Atherin couldn't stay silent too much longer. He decided to take matters into his own hands. Before Raven knew that he had moved, he soon found himself up in the air...again. Before Raven could stop him, Atherin once again tossed him into the pond. He knew that Raven was going to yell at him, but if it made him talk then he was all for it. Raven surfaced and rubbed the water from his eyes. "What... what the Helkat was that for!?"

"To make you talk. Are you feeling better now?" Atherin asked, making sure to stay out of Raven's range of grabbing him. The 'Demonsbane' was heavy, and he had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to swim very well with it. And he wasn't about to take it off, not with Rika so close by. Raven glared. "No.... being soaking wet doesn't make me feel any better..." Atherin just smiled. He'd let Raven vent on him for this. Hopefully it made him loosen up and go back to his old self. Raven saw an opening and smirked. He splashed Atherin, getting him soaking wet.

Atherin wiped the water from his eyes, but he still stayed away from the water's edge. He didn't mind being soaking wet, but he did mind the extra weight that was strapped to him. Raven narrowed his eyes. "You're not even gonna try and get me back? You're no fun..." "It's not like I don't want to... It's just...the 'Demonsbane' is heavy... I don't want to drown by way of heavy sword…" "Then take it off... it's not that difficult..." Raven joked, splashing him again. "I know it's not difficult. I just don't want to take it off when they're so close to us... I don't want it in their hands."

Raven rolled his eyes. "Then have Azel come out and keep an eye out..." "And leave Eiji unattended? I don't know which would be worse." Raven rolled his eyes. "Then call Shadow and Avea..." "You call Shadow. She's your Organoid. I can try to call Avea." Raven nodded and called Shadow. She and Avea were there within a few minutes. "Make sure Rika or any of the other Vareix don't sneak up on us..." Raven said. Shadow nodded and sat down to keep watch.

Atherin took the 'Demonsbane' off and placed it near Shadow. After he had down that he then dove into the pond, and came up a few feet away from Raven. Raven smirked and splashed Atherin in his face, diving to try and escape... Atherin dived after him, soon catching up to Raven. He tackled him, but not hard enough to hurt Raven. Raven hadn't expected that, and was taken by surprise. He yelped, but of course all that came out were bubbles. Atherin saw that he had caused him to release his breath. He quickly grabbed him and swam back to the surface.

Raven broke the surface and gasped for breath. "That was.... uncalled for... Atherin!" he managed between breaths, coughing up some water. "Sorry... I didn't think you'd actually try to breath in water..." Atherin just about snickered. Raven rolled his eyes and splashed at him again. Atherin splashed him back, before diving back under, disappearing from Raven's sight. Raven looked around, trying to find Atherin. He knew the vampire was planning something, and he was going to get it... Atherin resurfaced on the other side of the pond. He didn't want to torment Raven too much considering he just got him to speak again. Raven breathed a side of relief, seeing that Atherin was going to nail him.

Atherin cleared the water from his eyes. He looked over to Raven when he heard him sigh in relief. "What? You expect me to pull you under every time I dive?" Raven nodded. "Well, you do it pretty much every time..." "Not every time... Just most..." Atherin smirked, diving under again. Raven looked around frantically, knowing Atherin was planning something...

Raven was right. Atherin was planning something this time. Raven thought that Atherin was going to pull him under the water again, but he didn't. He just bided his time, letting Raven sweat it out. Raven was started to panic a little. He couldn't see Atherin, and the fact that he hadn't done anything meant he was planning something... Atherin smirked, he could see Raven panicking. His plan was working like a charm...relatively speaking of course. Raven was really panicking now. Atherin hadn't surfaced and he couldn't see him. He _knew_ he was planning something... Atherin couldn't stay under for too much longer. He resurfaced a few feet away from Raven, trying and failing to hide his snickering.

Raven glared at him and splashed him. "You aren't funny, Dracula..." "Says you, but I got a kick outta it." Raven rolled his eyes and splashed him again. Atherin returned the splash, much bigger than the one Raven threw at him. Raven had a feeling that Atherin was using a little of his vampire strength to create it. Raven narrowed his eyes. "You're cheating!"

"All's fair, Raven. You're just lucky that the only thing I can do with my fire ability is to create a hot spring... I don't think the fish would be too happy about that." Raven nodded. "Donnie would have your hide if you killed all his fish..." "Which is why I haven't used it yet." Atherin replied, splashing Raven in the face again. Raven got the water out of his eyes and splashed him back, diving to avoid getting splashed back. Atherin dove under as well. Raven would have a harder time 'trying' to surprise him. Raven tried to swim away, not wanting Atherin to catch him or tackle him again. Atherin smirked, knowing that he was scaring Raven with his 'play'. He just stayed where he was, he didn't feel like giving chase at the moment. After about two minutes Raven couldn't hold his breath any longer and started to swim up to the surface...

Atherin followed suit. He reached the surface before Raven did. He was pretty fast...even underwater. The first thing that he noticed was that the sky had gotten really black really fast. It seemed to like to storm a lot here... Raven saw as well. "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about...." As soon as he had finished that sentence it started to down pour. "You were saying?" Atherin asked as he headed for shore. He really didn't to be on the receiving end of a lightning bolt. Raven looked up at the sky and sighed. "Yeah... I don't really want to get fried either..." he said, getting out and walking over to Shadow and Avea.

Atherin picked up the 'Demonsbane' and followed after Raven. He knew that Donnie wouldn't be too happy with them... Raven walked inside and shook his head, trying to get off some of the water. He was completely soaked from the pond and the sudden squall... Atherin was just as soaked. He was starting to choke a little due to his water laden scarf. He couldn't get the knot undone, as it was too tight at the moment, and he was still holding onto the 'Demonsbane'. He didn't bother trying to shake as much water from him; he'd be able to dry off in his room.

Raven looked back and saw the trouble Atherin was having. "Need some help, Dracula?" he said, smirking slightly. "Y-Yeah..." Atherin managed to say. It was getting tighter, more than likely because of the water making his scarf feel like it weigh about forty times heavier. Raven couldn't help but snicker slightly. "How the Helkat did you manage to get it so tight, Dracula?" Raven joked slightly, trying to get the knot undone. Atherin didn't answer. He was trying to keep himself from swiping at Raven. He knew Raven was just trying to help him.

As Raven was trying to undo the knot, he realized Atherin was trying to keep from panicking. "Dracula... you better not scratch me again..." he said, trying to get the stubborn knot undone. Atherin nodded slightly. He wouldn't swipe at Raven again. But he still wasn't use to letting anyone other than his family near his neck. Raven finally managed to get the knot loose. "There we go..." he muttered to himself, undoing the scarf from around Atherin's neck. "Alright Dracula, it's off..."

"T-Thanks..." Atherin replied quietly. He took the scarf from Raven, and resisted the urge to check for wounds. He knew that there weren't any, but it was ingrained into his mind to do so. Raven looked down slightly. He knew Atherin had been extremely nervous with him around his neck, and he knew he had every reason to... Atherin saw Raven's look. "Now don't you get all bent outta shape. It's alright...it's just what's been inscribed into my brain. You've haven't done anything wrong."

Raven nodded slightly, but didn't lift his gaze. He knew he had done something wrong; he had done something terrible by threatening him. "Not this again..." Atherin sighed to himself. "Come on Raven... I've told you many times already, I'm not mad. You just need to stop beating yourself up over this. If I'm not mistaken, I've done similar things to you while I wasn't myself. You forgave me, and I've already forgiven you."

Raven nodded slowly. Shadow nosed his shoulder and licked him, whining. He patted her snout and finally lightened up a bit. "Alright, I don't know about you, but I'm not gonna just stand here and catch my death. I'm gonna go dry off and put on a spare set of clothing." Atherin said as he started his way towards his room. Raven nodded and went to the medical room. He changed into the spare clothes Donnie had left him a few days ago; they looked exactly the same as the clothes he had just had on. He finished and waited outside the medical room for Atherin. Atherin came by the medical room a few minutes later. Raven had to do a double take just to make sure that it was Atherin. He was now wearing black shorts and a dark navy blue tee shirt. He certainly _looked_ different without his usual apparel on.

Raven blinked. "Jeez... I didn't recognize you for a sec, Dracula..." He joked. "I can't wear the same thing all the time. I figured that since it's about five pm now it'd be safe to just wear my night clothes." Atherin answered. Raven shrugged. "Seems fine to me, and it makes sense..." he said, "Now what do you want to do?" He asked. "Well...we could go see Azel and Eiji... They'd keep us entertained... Besides, I haven't really been able to spend too much time with them since were arrived at Horai..." Raven nodded. "If you want to get mauled, sure, why not?" "You're gonna get mauled with me. Azel and Eiji like you too." Atherin said as he started towards the Zoid's hanger. Raven rolled his eyes. "Great... just what I need..."

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_**Author's Note:**_ We learned a little more about Raven's past as well as some of Atherin's other skills that he doesn't like to use. And Atherin got Raven to not feel so bad about what had happened during his hallucinations. And now, they're on their way to go visit a hyperactive Liger and Organoid that haven't seen their vampire counterpart for some time now…


	31. Bugged

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do __**NOT**__ own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul, Rika, Avea and Serrer do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME.**__ The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if Redai is used without my permission, but if you use Jurei, please make note of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! This chapter is my Thanksgiving treat to you all! Last chapter we found a few things out about Raven's past after his family had passed away. And now, they're on their way to see Atherin's Zoid and Organoid.

Thanks to everyone that Reviewed!! This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me.

* * *

Ͽ Bugged Ͼ

As both boys expected, as soon as Eiji caught sight of Atherin he started to go nuts. He was rumbling and growling so loud Atherin was sure the other occupants of Horai could hear him. They ventured closer to Eiji before Atherin suddenly went missing. Raven looked around trying to find him, before he was knocked over by Eiji's excited stomping; he couldn't get up because the Liger has hovering over him.

Raven blinked and gulped slightly. "Uhh... hi... Eiji..." he said nervously. Eiji just rumbled louder. It had been a while since he had attention, and he was going to take full advantage of it. Raven blinked. He had a feeling he wasn't going to get out of this easily... Eiji nearly put his nose on Raven's stomach. He knew better than to do that and freak Raven out. He wanted attention, and since Atherin was busy trying to get Azel to release him, Raven would just have to do. Raven's eyes widened slightly. "Uhh... hello to you too..." Eiji whined. The boy wasn't taking the hint as well as Atherin had when he first met him.

Raven didn't like Eiji whining. It worried him, greatly. He reached up and hesitantly patted his nose, trying to see if it kept him from doing anything rash. Raven could see Eiji's eyes dim, a loud purr soon followed. He really was nothing more than an over grown house cat. Raven wondered how in the world Atherin was able to get him to fight against other Zoids as he continued patting his nose, hoping it would keep him calm.

Eiji purred even louder, which Raven didn't think was possible. His chest was reverberating much more than it had been previously; it was as if he was standing right in front of a very loud speaker. His thoughts then turned to where in the world Atherin had went. People just don't disappear like that!!

Raven continued patting Eiji while he looked around. Atherin seemed to have vanished into thin air. A few minutes later Atherin reappeared shortly followed by Azel, the Organoid nuzzling his shoulder. He took one look at Raven pinned to the ground before he broke out laughing. Raven glared at him. "Laugh all you want... at least I didn't get taken down by an Organoid..."

"Azel didn't tackle me. He absorbed me; nearly gave me a heart attack too..." Atherin replied as he went over to Eiji, to make him let Raven up. The Liger lifted his head up and started nuzzling his pilot. He hadn't been able to see him for about two weeks now. He wasn't use to that. Raven got to his feet. He gave Azel a wary glance, unsure if he was going to get it next. Raven's fears were realized, but Azel didn't tackle him. He merely nuzzled him, making all sorts of clicks and purrs. Raven had learned that both of Atherin's counterparts were very vocal and very hyper... Raven didn't know how to react. He was afraid that if he petted him, he'd absorb him.

Atherin noticed this. "You don't have to worry about him absorbing you. He won't unless you're in danger and Shadow can't get to you." Atherin said and he leaned sideways against Eiji, still petting him to keep him from moving too much. Raven nodded and petted Azel hesitantly, unsure of his reaction, Azel just nuzzled him more. Raven was lucky that Azel didn't have any horns on him, as his head was pressed against his shoulder. Raven patted him some more. He calmed down considerably, now that he knew Azel wasn't going to absorb him.

Atherin chuckled, before Eiji moved, making him catch himself before he fell. He silently started to talk with Eiji, asking him what he wanted. He wasn't sure if Raven had a mental connection to his Zoid and Organoid, so his silence and Eiji's silence must be something new for him. Raven glanced over at Atherin, still petting Azel. He figured Eiji and Atherin were talking, so he didn't say anything.

After a few minutes Eiji lowered himself and opened his cockpit for Atherin. The vampire jumped into it with ease and then started fiddling with some of the switches, levers and buttons. Azel looked over to them before going back to nuzzling Raven. He wasn't needed at the moment. Raven stroked Azel's muzzle, trying to keep him calm. After making sure that there wasn't anything that he could possibly damage on either side of him did Atherin release Eiji's twin blades. He got up from the cockpit and jumped onto one of them. He seemed to be looking for something. Raven looked up from Azel. "What're ya hunting for, Dracula?" Raven shouted up to him, still stroking Azel.

"Eiji told me that there's something on this blade that shouldn't be.... So...I won't know 'til I find it..." Raven blinked. "What? Is something broken?" "No... Azel would have been able to fix that without me..." Atherin answered as he finished looking over the top of the blade. Now he had to check the underside...with out scaring Raven of this other...unmentioned ability... Raven looked back down at Azel. He rubbed him under his chin, wondering if he liked it...

Azel purred and leaned into his touch more before he looked back to Atherin. He cocked his head and made a number of clicks that Raven couldn't decipher even if he tried. The next thing that he knew Azel's panels had opened up and he was pulled inside. He was panicking slightly and thus unable to hear Atherin's mental voice trying to get him to listen, as he had chosen plan B instead.

Raven struggled against the cords. "Azel! What the Helkat was that for?!" he shouted, trying to wriggle free of the cords. /Hey!! LISTEN to me!!/ Atherin's mental voice yelled in his mind. Raven had never spoken mentally to another person before, so he didn't know how to answer exactly... Raven narrowed his eyes and managed to free his arm. He started banging on Azel's panels. "Atherin?! What the Furher?! Why the Helkat did Azel just absorb me for?!" he snapped.

/Because I asked him to... I need your help checking the underside of the blade... I just felt a small spike of energy that's completely foreign to me... I didn't want you to get hurt should it be something dangerous.../ Raven rolled his eyes. "I don't believe that! Now tell Azel to let me out!" he shouted, banging on the inside of the Organoid's panels again. /No. I don't know what's here, and if you're not gonna help me then I'll just look for it myself./ Raven growled to himself. He was _this_ close to snapping, but he controlled himself. He stopped banging on Azel's panels and stopped trying to get free.

Azel shifted nervously, he could tell that his partner was nervous. It looked like Atherin would have to use his ability anyways... He walked over to the back of the blade before carefully lowering himself over the side. When he was just hanging onto it with his hands, he swung his body, until he was kneeling....upside down... He took a quick look around before standing up, and slowly resuming his search. After a few minutes he stopped, and knelt down to something. He narrowed his eyes at the object. He had been...what was the word humans used? Bugged? He didn't know who had placed it or how long it had been there. He tried to remove it, and as he did so an electric jolt ran through his body, rendering him temporarily paralyzed. Azel saw this caught him before he could hit the unforgiving ground beneath him. The bug fell a few feet away from them. Raven was quickly getting fed up with this. He started banging on Azel's panels again. "Azel!" he shouted, "Let me out!!"

Azel placed Atherin on the ground before he let Raven out. Atherin was out cold at the moment, the jolt more powerful than he thought it would be. Raven staggered away from Azel, not liking having been absorbed one bit. He turned around to yell at him and Atherin, but froze when he saw Atherin. "What happened?!" Azel couldn't speak directly to Raven's mind like he could with Atherin, but he'd try any way. He didn't know how long Atherin would be out or if he was hurt else where because of the shock. Raven walked over and knelt down beside Atherin. "Dracula? …Atherin?" he asked, shaking his shoulder lightly. When he didn't get a response, he felt for a pulse on his neck, just making sure he was still alive.

Atherin was still breathing, but the jolt had disrupted his heartbeat. He didn't even react to Raven feeling for a pulse on his neck, not that he was aware of it in the first place. Raven could feel Atherin's irregular pulse. That concerned him. He decided to take him back to the medical room, if he could carry him that far. Before Raven could lift Atherin up to attempt to move him, Azel stopped him and indicated the small thing that had put Atherin in this state in the first place. Raven looked over at the thing. It was a bug of some sort. "That thing must really have zapped Atherin to knock him out..." he muttered to himself. After seeing Atherin's condition, he wasn't even going to go near the thing.

Azel didn't want to touch it either, but until someone figured out how to move it he'd make sure no one else touched it. He sighed heavily before turning back to his unconscious partner. He hoped that there was nothing else wrong with him other than being majorly shocked. Raven knew he wouldn't be able to carry Atherin back to the medical room, so he called Shadow. She immediately came, and started to freak out when he saw Atherin. "Calm down..." Raven said, trying to keep her from panicking, "I need you to carry him back to the medical room..." he said, and she nodded and picked Atherin up gently, following Raven to the medical room.

As soon as Shadow had put Atherin on one of the bed, did Tyme walk in. He turned to Raven when he saw his little brother unconscious. "What happened?" "I'm not sure..." Raven answered, "Something zapped Atherin I think, but since Azel had absorbed me, I couldn't really see..." "Zapped him? There was an electrical current strong enough to make him go unconscious?" Tyme question to no one in particular. Raven shrugged. "Again, I didn't see, so I'm not sure what zapped him, but he was working on Eiji..." "Then perhaps he touched a live wire.... A shock from a Zoid would do this..." Raven nodded. "That sounds about right... he was working on the blades, last I saw..."

"...But...do the blades even have wires running through them? I'm no Zoids expert, but I don't think there would be any there..." "Well... I think there are... after all, something has to power them..." Raven said. "True... But they're made out of metal through and through... So...if he was on the blades, it still doesn't explain how he electrocuted himself..." Raven shrugged. "Again, I didn't see, so I don't know what he was doing..." "Why in the world did Azel absorbed you in the first place?" Tyme questioned. "I think it was Atherin's idea of a sick joke..." Raven muttered, "But he said something about there being something wrong with Eiji's blade or something along those lines..."

Tyme ignored Raven's first comment, but tried to make sense of the second one. "Something wrong with it? How could there be if he hasn't seen combat in Eiji for who knows how long?" Raven shrugged. "I'm not sure... Eiji jumped around a lot when we first walked in; maybe he hit it on something and damaged it?" "Can't those blades withstand even a Charged Particle Beam? How would they nick on something like metal?" Raven shrugged again. "I don't know... but I've fought a Blade Liger before... I know how tough those blades are..." Raven said, gritting his teeth slightly at the thought of his defeat at Porto. Tyme seemed to sense Raven's anger at something. Whether it was him or something else he didn't know. "Did I...hit a nerve?" "No... You didn't do anything..." Raven said, "Just... an old wound..."

Tyme decided to drop it. He knew that it wasn't his place to pry...that was Atherin's job. Now, back to figuring out how his little brother managed to electrocute himself. The more he thought about the less likely he was going to figure it out without Atherin having to tell him what happened... Raven sat down in a chair, Shadow curled up at his feet. He patted her snout, trying to keep her calm.

After making sure that there was nothing else wrong with Atherin, did Tyme decide to leave. He couldn't bring his brother out of unconsciousness, so there was no point for him to stay there. A few minutes after he had left did Atherin begin to stir. His eyes fluttered open and he took a moment to try and figure out where he was exactly. This certainly wasn't the Zoids hanger... Raven looked over when Atherin woke up. "About time you woke up, Dracula..." Raven said, "You alright?" Atherin turned to look at Raven. "I'm alright... My body's sore...but other than that I'm okay..."

"Figured..." Raven said, "... by the way, what happened to you?" He asked. "...I was...shocked... Eiji was...bugged and I tried...to remove it..." Raven blinked. "Bugged? Who the Helkat bugged you?" "I don't know... I fell unconscious before I could take a good look at it..." Atherin replied. "Well... Azel stayed back with it..." Raven said, "Maybe we can go take a look at it later, after you recover..."

Atherin nodded before sitting up. His world spun for a minute or two, but it cleared up after that. Being electrocuted by that powerful of a jolt wasn't something he wanted to do again. "You shouldn't be moving around Atherin..." Raven said, not liking how he was trying to move so soon after waking up. "I'm not goin' anywhere. I just wanna sit up is all..." Atherin replied sulkily. Jeez...he was being yelled at for just trying to get into a better position to talk. Raven sighed. "That's good..." he said, "Just be careful... you're heartbeat was irregular while you were unconscious..."

Atherin nodded again. He figured that it might be due to the shock. But he couldn't help but wonder who had bugged his Zoid and why... "You sure you're alright? You took a pretty bad shook..." Raven asked in concern. "I'll be alright. It's not the first time I've been shocked, it probably won't be the last time either." Atherin answered. "What do you mean 'not the first'? You've shocked yourself before?" Raven asked. "I haven't shocked myself before, but Tyme has. It wasn't on purpose though... You see...when Tyme gets sick his ability gets a little hard for him to control..." Atherin trailed off.

Raven snickered slightly. "He zapped you?" he said, unable to stop himself from smirking. "It wasn't on purpose! And besides, I was being a 'good little brother' by making sure he didn't need anything. How were any of us to know that he'd become like a walking lightning rod?" Raven snickered again. "Well... you figured out the hard way, I'm guessing..." he said, his smirk widening slightly. "Yeah, yeah... He's the only one in our family that has the wind/lightning ability, so...not even mom and dad knew what to do with him." Raven laughed again. "Lucky you...."

"At least there weren't any boring days in my household. There was always something to do to keep us entertained or on our toes..." "I bet..." Raven joked, "I don't think it's possible to have a normal day in a house full of vampires..." "What's normal for us is probably chaotic to you." Atherin chuckled. "Probably..." Raven muttered, "I'm glad I only have you and Tyme to deal with..." "What? We too much for you to handle? You _do_ know that we've been going easy on you right?" Raven rolled his eyes. "Don't start with me Dracula..." Atherin only chuckled at him. For a human, Raven was holding up pretty well with two vampires constantly around. Raven looked at him. "What're you laughing for?" he joked.

"Nothing really." Atherin answered, as his mind drifted back to when he was little, and didn't have a care in the world. Raven narrowed his eyes. "Why don't I believe you?" "I'm not laughing at you...at least I don't think I am... I'm just remembering all the things that my siblings and me use to do...and the havoc we caused." Atherin defended. "If you're such a handful now, I'd hate to see how bad you were as a kid..." Raven joked. "I wasn't _that_ bad... Ryoko instigated a lot of what we did... She was the trouble maker out of all of us..." Atherin said. "I'm glad I don't have to deal with her... I don't think I'd be able to survive... or stay sane..."

Atherin laughed at his comment. He could only imagine what she'd be like now if she had survived as well. Raven rolled his eyes. "It's not funny... I don't think I could handle more than you and Tyme..." Raven said. "I don't think you have to worry about handling any more of us... Tyme's traveled more than I have and knows where most of the other hidden villages were located... He said all of them were in even worse shape than Jurei... It'd be a miracle if anyone else survived..." Atherin replied. "Well... I'm sorry to hear that..."

"Don't worry about it... Most of the villages were destroyed over the course of a century... Mine just happened to be the last one..." Raven didn't know what to say. "Sorry..." "It's not your fault Raven. You don't need to apologize to me. You didn't do anything wrong." Raven nodded. "So...are you feeling any better?" He asked. "Yeah... I'm feeling better... Though...I don't trust myself to stand just yet..." "You shouldn't..." Raven said, "We don't want you to screw up your heart again..." He said. "I know... I won't until I'm sure that I'm alright." Atherin reassured him. Raven nodded. "Now... do you have any idea where that bug could have come from?"

Atherin thought for a moment. He had never been bugged before, but he knew that the military used them. He had only been to two military bases before... "...I don't know... Rabe couldn't get close enough to bug Eiji... And...I've only been to two military bases where I left him unattended..." Raven shrugged. "I'm not sure where it could have come from..." Atherin didn't know where it had come from either, but he was going to find out as soon as he was better. Until then, they'd have to make sure no one else touch it. "Azel's watching it, so you won't have to worry about someone else getting shocked..." Raven said, knowing what he was thinking.

"Yeah...though there's still one thing that's bothering me... How come I'm not hurt more? I was...hanging upside down on the blade looking for it..." Atherin mused to himself. "Azel caught you, I think..." Raven said, "But I couldn't see because he absorbed me..." he said unhappily. "I only told him to do that 'cause I didn't want you to get hurt. I didn't know what was on Eiji... And you would have seen if you had opened up to Azel, you would have been able to." "Yeah, well... I was a little surprised..." Raven grumbled. "Sorry... But I only did what I thought was right." Atherin replied. "Yeah well, I have my own opinion on that..." Atherin looked down. He didn't mean to make Raven mad at him. He had only acted upon his instincts to protect. Raven sighed. "It's alright Atherin... I was just surprised, that's all..." Atherin nodded. "Sorry... I should have asked you first..." "That would have been better..." he muttered.

Atherin sighed quietly. He wasn't thinking of what Raven would feel about it, he was only thinking of their safety. Raven looked up. "Something wrong?" "I wasn't thinking about how you'd feel about it... I was thinking about your safety..." Atherin answered quietly. "My safety?" Raven asked, looking at him oddly. "I didn't know what that bug could have done... If it was strong enough to make me drop, it could have had other dangers to it..." Raven nodded. "I don't know much about bugs, but I know enough to know they're usually dangerous..."

Atherin looked down. He only knew the bare basics about bugs and even less about what they were capable of. "You okay?" Raven asked, seeing Atherin's downcast expression. "I'm alright... I'm just...lacking in any knowledge about these bugs... I won't be of much help figuring out where it came from..." "I won't either... I'm not much of an expert..." Raven said, "But Donnie might know. He always was smart when it came to Zoids..." "That's good to know... I can only wonder how long it's been there... And what data it might have collected..." Raven shrugged. "As soon as your better we'll take a look..." "Yeah..." Atherin answered. His body was starting to feel better. It wasn't as sore as it had been earlier.

"By the way, how does your heart feel? Is it beating normally?" Raven asked. Atherin took a minute to check his pulse before he answered. "It's back to normal... But, I still don't trust myself to move too much..." Raven nodded. "Let me know when you feel better..." Atherin nodded. He was feeling better, but not good enough to walk. He sighed and leaned back against the wall. He wouldn't be moving too much for a little while. "So... why didn't Eiji notice the bug sooner?" Raven asked. "I don't know... Perhaps it had some sort of cloaking device on it...?" Raven shrugged. "I'm not sure if bugs have those, but who knows..." He said. "I don't know... I'm just throwing it out there..." "Well, I don't have anything better..." Raven muttered.

Atherin shrugged. He wasn't going to beat his brain over something he didn't know anything about. Raven leaned back in his chair. Shadow got up and walked over to Atherin, licking him and growling. Atherin petted Shadow to get her to calm down. He could only imagine the panic he caused both her and Raven. Shadow purred and licked his face again, wagging her tail happily. Atherin continued to pet Shadow. "Sorry for worrying you..." He said softly. Shadow blinked and nuzzled him, her way of saying it was okay. She then started licking him again.

Atherin chuckled as she continued to lick him. He didn't mind it so much, whether Raven believed it or not, vampires were social creatures. Shadow wagged her tail more, licking his hair. She never got to do this with Raven, so she was taking the opportunity. Atherin let her groom his hair. He was fine with it and had learned at an early age to just let his Organoid groom his hair. There was no point in struggling against her. Shadow stopped after a few minutes and returned to Raven. She tried to do the same thing, but Raven didn't let her.

Atherin held in his chuckle at Raven trying to get Shadow to stop. He was amused to say the least, but he wasn't going to say anything about it. Raven glared at Atherin. "Don't say anything, Dracula..." he growled. "I didn't say anything." Atherin said in his defense. "Yeah... well you were thinking it..." Raven said. "Doesn't mean I was voicing it though." Atherin smirked as he closed his eyes. Raven rolled his eyes. "You feeling good enough to move?"

Atherin at up straight, swinging his legs over the side of the bed slowly, he slowly stood up, he wavered slightly, but other than that he felt fine. "You want to go look at the bug?" Raven asked. "Might as well... We're not getting anywhere with just sitting here." Raven nodded and got to his feet. He led Atherin back to the hanger, Shadow following.

They soon arrived back in the hanger. Eiji and Azel were glad to see him up, but didn't cause a commotion this time, but they did want to make sure that he was alright. Azel was the first to reach him, whining and nuzzling him. He then reassured Eiji that he was fine, before he spotted the bug that had caused all the problems in the first place. He wasn't about to touch it again. Raven stayed away from the troublesome device. "This time, please don't touch it. I don't feel like dragging your sorry ass all the way back to the medical room... again..."

"I'm not gonna touch it again, and I think you mean that Shadow carried me to the medical room." Atherin corrected as he examined the device a little more closely. He didn't know what he was looking for exactly, but he would know when he found it. Raven rolled his eyes. "Just be careful and don't shock yourself..."

He ignored Raven's comment as he studied the bug closer. There was part of a signit he couldn't see, but he would need to turn it over to see all of it. He looked around before he mentally asked Azel to go get something he could use to flip it. Azel returned with chopsticks, they were made out of wood so he couldn't get shocked handling it that way. He took them in his left hand and carefully flipped the device over. He could hear the shocks pulsing from it, but he couldn't feel any of it. When he had it flipped he could see the signit fully. He was shocked...to say the least...

Raven looked over seeing Atherin's shocked expression. "Something wrong?" "It's...its Imperial..." Atherin replied quietly. Raven's eyes widened. "Imperial?! Why would you have an Imperial bug on your Zoid?!" "I don't know... Someone must have put it on while we were at the Imperial base..." Atherin replied. "But... why?" Raven muttered, not understanding why Atherin had been bugged. Atherin just shook his head, indicating that he didn't know either. He couldn't place why he had been bugged and who had done it. Raven sighed. "What are we going to do with it?" "I don't know... We don't even know who placed it or what it was collecting data about..." Atherin answered. "Is there any way to find out what data it had?" Raven asked. "You're asking the wrong person about this. Perhaps Karl would be better to ask about it..." Raven nodded. "He might know something, but I'm not sure..." He said. "Now...how're we gonna move it to ask him? Or should you just send Shadow to fetch him?"

"Shadow can get him..." Raven said. Shadow nodded and left the hanger to get Karl. A few minutes later she returned with him. He walked over to them. "What's wrong?" "...Eiji...was bugged...with an Imperial device..." Atherin answered quietly. Karl blinked. "An Imperial device? Are you sure?" Atherin nodded and pointed to the Imperial signit on the bug with one of the chopsticks. Karl knelt down and looked at it. "It's Imperial all right..." he muttered, "Where did you find it?" "It was on the underside of Eiji's blade..." Atherin answered. "On the underside of the blade?" Karl muttered, "... it's an information bug. It's been gathering data..." "Gathering data...on what?" Atherin asked. Karl hesitated for a moment. "On you, it looks like..."

Atherin felt his blood run cold. That bug had been collecting data on him for about three months now. Who ever had an interest in him knew a lot about him and where to target him. Karl stood back up. "It's really advanced, so whoever put this on had access to the latest technology..." That didn't make Atherin feel any better. He had half a mind to let Azel squish it, but he didn't know if that would be alright. Karl looked down at the bug again. "I could try to figure out who bugged you, if you'd like..."

Atherin nodded. He would like to know who had bugged him and why. He was pretty sure that when he had not entered the base, Ibeyla nor Raven knew he was a vampire... Whoever had placed it found out at the same time as them...and had watched as he had 'feed' off of Raven many times...since he was usually near Eiji when he did so.

Karl nodded and walked over to his Zaber and climbed into the cockpit. He pushed a few buttons, and soon a link opened to Regent Prozen. Prozen appeared on Karl's screen. "Yes? What is it Major Schubaltz? I haven's had a report from you in some time now." "We've been a little... busy..." Karl sighed, "But sir, can you explain why I found an Imperial bug on Raven's friend's Zoid?" "I had it placed there. I've been looking for that young man ever since I saw him and his Organoid a few years back. I assure you, I mean no harm to him." Prozen answered calmly.

"Well, that bug nearly electrocuted him..." Karl said, "And why wasn't I informed? Or Raven? Or Ibeyla?" He asked. "If any of you had known then the data that I received on him would have been...tampered with. I merely placed it to keep watch on him." Karl sighed. "Keep watch? But you knew Raven, Ibeyla and I were with him..." "Yes, and would any of you had told me about his...'condition'?" The Regent asked. Karl flinched slightly. "We would have told you eventually..." he said.

Prozen merely gazed at the Major, before speaking again. "Relax Major Schubaltz. I do not find him dangerous, and I do not plan to use him as a biological weapon." "Good..." Karl said, "... and you won't do anything to harm him because of his 'condition'?" Karl asked. "Do not worry Major. I will see to it that no one else finds out about his 'condition'. He's an interesting individual, but he will by no means be used as a guinea pig." The Regent reassured Karl.

Karl nodded. "That's good to hear..." he said, relieved. "How long have you known about Atherin's 'condition'?" "For as long as Ibeyla and Raven have." Prozen replied. Karl blinked. "That long?" "Yes, that long. It was shortly after they had left the base that he told them." Karl nodded. "So you know... everything that's happened since he visited the base?" "Not everything. There are some periods where he's not in the vicinity of the Zoid, so I do not know what happened in those periods." Prozen answered.

"Figured..." Karl said, "And, you aren't going to do _anything_ to Atherin?" "No Major. I am not going to do anything to him." "Okay..." Karl answered, "But the bug, you had Atherin and Raven really worried..." "And I apologize for that. Everything that it recorded will not leave my office." Prozen said. "It better not... there's no telling the havoc that would cause if Atherin's 'condition' became known...." "I am very much aware of that, Major. It will not leave this office." "And it better stay there... or we're all in trouble..." Karl replied.

Prozen nodded slightly. "Now then, are you going to fill me in on what's happening or am I just going to have to wait for the written report?" "I think it'd be best if you just wait for the written report..." Karl said. "Very well then, report to me if anything else significant happens." Karl nodded. "I will..." he said, before he cut the link. He jumped out of his Zoid's cockpit and walked back over to Raven and Atherin. "Well... it seems Prozen ordered you Zoid be bugged, Atherin..."

Atherin gave Karl a confused look. "Why would he...do that?" "He said he'd been looking for you for a few years. He said he saw you a few years back and has been trying to track you down..." Karl answered. That confused Atherin too. Why was Prozen trying to track him down? He didn't ever recall seeing Prozen before. He remained silent, trying to comprehend why Prozen wanted to find him. "I think he wants to recruit you..." Karl said. "Recruit me? Why? I've only been piloting for a year..."

Karl shrugged. "I'm not sure..." he answered truthfully, "But, he said he never meant any harm. He also knows about your...'condition', but he said the knowledge won't leave his office..." Atherin knew that Prozen already knew what he is, but actually hearing it said out loud made him a little nervous. Hearing that Prozen wouldn't say anything about it made him feel a little at ease. It looks like he really _was_ drafted into the Imperial army...

"I can't believe Prozen bugged you!" Raven growled, "He has no right to do that!" Atherin looked over to Raven at his outburst. "....Don't beat yourself up over it... There's nothing we can do about it know... But...what're we gonna do with this?" Atherin asked, indicating the bug. "I say we smash it..." Raven muttered. Atherin was with Raven on that notion. Prozen didn't need to watch him any more now that they already knew about him. Raven was about to kick the device, but Shadow beat him to it. She smashed the bug with her foot; the electric shock not even registering with her. "Thanks Shadow." Atherin said as he petted her, which in turn caused Azel and Eiji to want attention from him. Shadow licked him and purred loudly, wagging her tail.

Atherin couldn't pay attention to all of them at the same time. He tried to get Shadow to go back to Raven, but she wasn't having any of it. He resigned himself to just let them lick him to death. After licking him a few more times, Shadow went back to Raven. He allowed her to lick him a few times, before he pushed her away. "You should really just let her have her way... It'll be so much easier on you." Atherin said, as was finally able to pay attention to Azel and Eiji. Raven rolled his eyes. "I used to, but I can't take her constantly trying to groom me..."

Atherin chuckled as he continued to pet Azel and Eiji. By this time Karl had left to go back to where ever he was before. "I'm glad Azel doesn't do that... he only does that when he's worried..." "Yeah... lucky you..." Raven groaned, Shadow trying to lick him again. Atherin laughed again as he watched Shadow attempting to groom Raven again. Azel was trying to pull him down to nap, but Atherin wasn't cooperating very well. Raven pushed Shadow's head away, trying to keep her from licking him. Shadow was getting annoyed, but she didn't push too hard, not wanting to hurt Raven since he was still recovering from Rika's venom.

Atherin finally cooperated with what Azel wanted. He sat down, and Azel curled around him. He continued to watch as Raven continued to push Shadow away. Raven wasn't doing a good job of keeping Shadow from doing what she wanted. She growled and pulled him down to the ground like Atherin was, and curled around Raven. She started licking at him, despite Raven's protests. Atherin chuckled again. Raven was making it so much more difficult than it needed to be. If he'd just let Shadow do what she wanted she'd be done faster and wouldn't try to groom him as often.

Raven glared at Atherin. "Shut it, Dracula..." he snapped, pushing Shadow's head away again. Atherin just shook his head at him. Azel didn't mess with his hair or anything; he was content to just curl around his partner and nap. Raven rolled his eyes, and continued trying to push Shadow away. She was being a real nuisance today... Atherin soon dozed off. He knew that Raven wasn't going to win this battle. Plus, he was still a little sore and tired from being electrocuted. Raven finally gave up and let Shadow do what she wanted. She licked his hair and nuzzled him, basically treating him like a hatchling. He eventually dozed off as well.

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_**Author's Note:**_ A simple trip the Zoids hanger results in Atherin and Raven discovering that Eiji had been bugged. Luckily, it had been by a friendly source and not an enemy. What'll happen next chapter? You'll just have to wait and find out!! Please Review!!


	32. The First Step

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do __**NOT**__ own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul, Rika, Avea and Serrer do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME.**__ The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me, however, I do not mind if they are used without my permission. But if you use Jurei, please make note of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ Happy Holiday's everyone!! Sorry for the late update on this story, but life had been very hectic for me at the moment. I'll try to be better about updating, but I wouldn't really expect another one until the second week of January. Anyways, last chapter we found out that Atherin's Zoid had been bugged by Prozen and that he had been gathering information about him. What's Prozen true motive or purpose for the young vampire? I'm not sure yet, you'll just have to wait and find out! On a side note, there is some mentioning of one of ShadowRebirth37's other fics in here. Don't worry, nothing is spoiled for that story!

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me. Thanks to those of you that Reviewed!!

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Ͽ The First Step Ͼ

Unbeknownst to them, both Atherin and Raven fell into a deeper sleep and ended up spending the night in the Zoids hanger. Atherin didn't mind it so much as he was use to sleeping on hard surfaces from his time out in the wastelands. By the time morning had come he was laying down, Azel sleeping right next to him to keep him warm. Shadow was still curled around Raven, with him leaning back against his side. He hadn't moved all night.

Atherin was the first to stir. He rolled over onto his back and opened his eyes...to see Eiji hovering over him, bare inches from his chest. He reached up and scratched under Eiji's chin, causing him to rumble and purr...and wake Raven up. Raven opened his eyes and sighed. He wanted to go back to sleep. He closed his eyes again and tried to go back to sleep. "Could you tell that overgrown housecat to keep it down?"

"As I recall that one day that I wanted to continue sleeping you wouldn't let me..." Atherin replied as he continued to pet Eiji, and since Azel was now up, using his other hand to rub his belly, thus causing Azel to click and purr happily as well. Raven opened an eye and glared at him sleepily. "Shut up..." Atherin only chuckled at him. He couldn't get up due to Eiji, and Azel would just pull him back down anyways. He'd wait until someone else caught their attention.

Shadow woke up and started licking Raven again, much to his dismay. He started fighting with her, until Donnie walked into the hanger and over to them. "Good morning..." Eiji lifted his head to look at Donnie. He had only seen the Raven look-a-like once and that was when they first arrived. Azel looked over to Donnie as well. He cocked his head to the side and clicked curiously at him. Atherin was able to sit up and he returned the greeting. "Good morning Donnie." Donnie looked over to Atherin and nodded. He was a little worried about the large Blade Liger and the blue Organoid, but he didn't mind them too much. Eiji couldn't move from his spot, but started to rumble again. Azel, however, got up and vanished.

Donnie looked around. "Uhh, Atherin? Where did your Organoid go?" he asked, looking around again. "...Beats me... But he'll probably pop up in front of you or something. Don't take it too hard Donnie...it's just Azel's way of checking out a new person." Donnie nodded slightly. He wasn't too sure how to react. Azel reappeared behind Donnie and before Atherin or Raven could warn him, Azel nudged him.

Donnie jumped and spun around, not expecting that. "Oh... hi, Azel..." he said a little nervously, patting his muzzle. Azel clicked happily, nuzzling Donnie now. Atherin had to keep Eiji from getting out of control and so paid attention to him instead of what his Organoid was doing. Donnie smiled and stroked the Organoid's snout. He wasn't bothered at all by it, unlike his twin brother. Azel had soon started to groom Donnie's hair. The head band that he wore made it a little difficult, but he removed it and continued what he was doing. Donnie sat down on the ground near Raven and let Azel do what he wanted. It didn't bother him at all.

Azel finished his grooming of Donnie's hair before he decided to move on down the line and help Shadow with Raven. He clicked at her, before doing anything though. Atherin however, was snickering slightly as he could understand all of Azel's clicks. Donnie put back on his headband and just watched. Shadow looked up at Azel and nodded, not having a problem with it at all. Raven didn't like the 'plotting' Shadow and Azel were planning, and was on guard.

Azel lay down in front of Raven since Shadow was wrapped around him. He was tall enough to reach Raven's hair and start grooming it, much like he had done to Donnie. He ignored Raven's protests and attempts at pushing him away. Atherin was now chuckling at him, unable to contain his laughter any longer. Raven glared at Atherin. "Shut it, Dracula..." he growled, trying to push Azel away. Donnie started snickering as well.

Azel still ignored him, and continued to help Shadow groom him. He was even more persistent than Shadow was when it came to this, which is why Atherin learned to just deal with it. Raven was having a hard time trying to push both Azel and Shadow away. But they were much too strong for him. Azel continued on, clicking at Shadow or Raven every once in a while. He was enjoying himself, even if Raven was not. Raven finally gave up. It was hopeless, as he couldn't fight two Organoids.

Azel soon finished with Raven before going back to Atherin, curling around him. He clicked at Atherin for a little bit before settling back down. Raven glared at Atherin. He wasn't one bit happy. "Don't glare at me. I didn't tell him to groom you, nor ask him to not groom me." Atherin defended. Raven rolled his eyes. "Sure..." he muttered. Donnie couldn't help but snicker at them. "Besides, I was groomed last night." Atherin said, leaning back against Azel. "Well, good for you..." Raven muttered, leaning back against Shadow.

Atherin just shook his head at Raven. He wouldn't have been sleeping on the floor if he hadn't of woken up with Azel clicking softly and grooming him. He reminded himself that it was about four in the morning when Azel had decided to do that. Raven yawned. He was still tired and wanted to go back to sleep.

Azel and Eiji suddenly looked over to the entrance of the hanger. Azel was rapidly clicking at the person that had just entered the hanger. Atherin looked over to try and figure out what had his Organoid and Zoid so...bothered. He saw his brother walking over to them, and he could understand why they were so confused. Raven looked over at Tyme. "You better run while you have the chance Tyme!" he shouted.

Tyme stopped. He didn't want to upset the Organoid as he seemed to have done. Like he had done with Shadow he waited for Azel to approach him and let the Organoid deem him safe or not. Azel did get up and vanished once again, and like he did with Donnie, nudged him, though a little more sharply than what he had done with Raven's twin. It seemed that Azel didn't like him too much... Raven smirked. "You should've run when you had the chance, Tyme!"

"That would've made things worse." Tyme replied. Azel had went back to Atherin, he wasn't going to act aggressive towards his partner's brother, but that didn't mean he had to like him after not seeing Atherin for five years and sneaking onto Horai. Raven looked over. "Maybe, but who knows..." he said.

Tyme ventured closer to his brother, but Azel didn't make any more moves towards him. Figuring that it was safe he sat down by him. "Sorry Tyme... I don't think you made a good impression on him." "Don't worry about it. I can understand why he doesn't like me." "You're lucky Tyme; he didn't 'attack' you..." Raven said.

"I know. I'll let him warm up to me at his own pace." Tyme answered. "So...I take it you two slept here last night?" Raven nodded. "The Organoids wanted too..." Tyme chuckled. "I bet you two were thrilled." Raven rolled his eyes. "Very..."

Atherin chuckled as well. He was fine with sleeping on the floor. "What're we gonna do now? We need to get rid of one of them soon rather than wait for them to attack us all together..." Raven nodded. "I think we should set up our trap..." Atherin nodded. "We need to get the powder from Ibeyla still as well as the rope..." Raven nodded again. "I don't think she'll be awake for a bit, though..." Atherin sighed quietly. "True... So how do we entertain ourselves until she does wake up?" Raven shrugged. "I don't know... any suggestions?" "Nope, I don't want to go outside at this hour... The sun's just now starting to rise higher, and I'm hungry anyways..." Atherin replied. Raven nodded. "I'm hungry too..."

Atherin got up, much to the dismay of Azel and Eiji as it meant he was leaving again. Tyme followed suit as they waited for Raven. Both of them were really hungry, and anxious to get to the kitchen to make breakfast. Raven got up, Shadow and Donnie following suit. "I'll let you three eat; I've already had breakfast..." Donnie said, turning and leaving them to go to the kitchen.

The three were soon in the kitchen. At first Raven thought that there would be a battle between the two brothers as they were both gathering different things, but soon realized they were talking to each other mentally and splitting the tasks between them. Raven sat down, not wanting to get in the way and accidently make them spill or break something. The two vampires busied themselves and soon the entire kitchen had even Raven's mouth watering from the aromas, waiting for them to get done. Raven waited for them to finish. Whatever they were making smelled good.

Tyme came and set the table. It looks like they made a lot...like always... "Could you pour us some orange juice? Atherin's almost done and I'm needed to help him carry everything over." Raven nodded and poured them orange juice. A few minutes later Atherin and Tyme came back carrying dishes of sausages, eggs, toast, bacon, crepes, fruit, biscuits and gravy. After seeing the stunned look on Raven's face they prompted him to just help himself. Raven got a little of everything, and started eating.

Atherin and Tyme piled a lot of everything on their plates before they started to devour what was in front of them. They weren't messy eaters but they sure did clear their plates fast and refill them. Raven didn't eat as much or as fast as them, not wanting to make himself sick. By the time Raven was done with his one serving Atherin and Tyme had finished their third and were starting on their fourth. Raven could only speculate where they kept it all as neither were any bigger than he was. Raven finished quickly. One serving was enough for him.

Seven or eight helpings later, Raven had lost count, were they finally done. There wasn't anything left, and Raven could only imagine how much food was needed to feed their family of five way back when. He was starting to feel a little sick to his stomach just thinking about it. Before he knew it, both vampires had cleared the table and were cleaning up.

"You know, that you two just basically ate all the food, right?" Raven said. "We can go restock in town. Tyme and I have enough money to pay for our expenses here." Atherin answered as he sat back down at the kitchen table. Raven got up. "If we're going anywhere, we don't want to go unprotected. I'll go get the ropes and the powder, in case one of them shows up..." "Alright, I best get dressed and armed as well." Atherin said, standing up as well. "You're coming with us Tyme. We'll need a medic if something were to happen." Raven left and went to the main living room. He gathered up some of the rope and powder, and returned to the kitchen to wait for Atherin.

Atherin returned a few minutes later fully dressed and 'Demonsbane' equipped. Tyme hadn't left the kitchen as he already had this vile silver dagger with him. "So...how're we gonna do this? Are we gonna take our Organoids this time or just let Tyme take us down with his wind power?" "I'd rather have the Organoids with us, in case something happens..." Raven replied. Atherin nodded. "Alright then, let's go get them and restock the kitchen before Donnie notices that it's empty." Atherin replied as he and Tyme headed toward the hanger. Raven followed them, Shadow plodding along behind him.

Atherin called Azel to him and Azel appeared about three minutes later. They each took a pouch of the powder before the two Organoids absorbed their respected partner and Tyme used his wind ability to hover himself after them. They quickly landed. Shadow released Raven, and they waited for Azel to release Atherin. Azel released Atherin as they landed and Tyme touched down soon afterwards. So far everything looked peaceful and they hoped that it stayed that way.

Raven kept an eye out for any of the Organoids. So far, it was quiet and there were no signs of any of them... Atherin, Tyme and Azel were keeping an eye out as well. They were enjoying the quiet not really realizing that it was too quiet. Raven suddenly stopped, seeing a white flash. "We have company..."

"Joy... We can't even go into town without one of them coming to see us." Atherin replied as he got ready for Rika's attack. Tyme was also battle ready, but he had yet to actually fight against one of these Organoids. Raven tried to watch as Rika teleported around, but she was moving much too quickly for him to follow. "Atherin... did you bring the 'Demonsbane'?" he asked, trying to find the white Vareix. "Yeah... I'm not going outside ever again without it...for now..." Atherin answered.

Raven nodded and tried to find Rika again. She was getting closer and closer, and it would be only a matter of time before she struck... Atherin was growing uneasy. He put his hands near the hilt of the blade, waiting for Rika to strike. Tyme was ready as well. Even he was having problems following the white Organoid. Rika continued to teleport around, until she settled on a target. Atherin. She teleported around for a few more times before she appeared beside Atherin, sinking her fangs into his shoulder, dangerously close to his neck.

Atherin cried out in shock and in pain. He tried to hold onto her muzzle like he had done the last time, but he couldn't move his one arm. Tyme reacted instantly, but before he could cut her she released Atherin and teleported just out of his reach. Rika smirked before she teleported again. She knew Atherin would be downed by her venom within a few minutes, so all she had to do was wait...

Atherin grabbed his shoulder but remained standing for as long as he could. He knew that she would come after him since he wouldn't be able to move. He wasn't sure if she had injected her damaging venom like last time, but he had a sinking feeling that she had. He'd fight it off for as long as he could. Tyme, needless to say, was angry. Since she was teleporting around faster than he could react he couldn't do much. A dull 'thud' reached his ears, telling him that Atherin had finally fallen to his knees.

Raven stayed by Atherin, his knife drawn, trying to keep Rika from getting to him. Rika teleported behind Tyme and hissed at him. When he turned around to attack her, she swiped at him with her talons, slashing his shoulder and arm, and she immediately teleported away.

Tyme grew a little angrier. He wasn't patient like Atherin was; in fact, he was very short tempered...which was an odd combination considering he was a 'healer'. He quickly locked onto Rika and before she could teleport a strong gust of wind blew from out of no where, sending her crashing through a tree or two. Rika got to her feet and roared loudly. She teleported and reappeared behind Tyme, snarling at him loudly. She whipped him with her tail, sending him flying. When he started to get up, she pounced on him and ducked down to bite him.

Tyme quickly flipped over onto his back before Rika could bite him. Before she could do that, however, she was flung off him by a powerful bolt of lightning. It hit her square in the chest, and she landed a few feet away from him. He got back to his feet instantly, waiting for her to come at him again. Rika staggered to her feet, her white chest armor blackened slightly. She glared at Tyme and roared loudly, fanning her large wings. She teleported again, appearing behind Tyme. She roared and went to bite his throat.

Tyme spun around quickly, aiming a well placed slash with his silver dagger at her chest armor. It cut pretty deep, but not deep enough to hit her core. He back flipped out of the way of her bite and flailing. Rika roared in pain, lashing her tail and bearing her fangs. She teleported again and slammed into Tyme, pinning him to the ground with an infuriated snarl.

Another strong gust of wind blew Rika off Tyme. He was on his feet in an instant, and he charged after her before she could charge at him again. He took another swing at her with his silver knife, creating another slash on her chest just as deep and painful as the first. He moved out of her strike zone before sending a lightning bolt her way. Rika roared in pain as the bolt struck her, further blackening her once white chest armor. It looked like someone had singed it badly. She shook off the shock and teleported again, appearing beside Tyme. She snarled and lunged, aiming for his throat. Tyme reacted faster. He plunged his dagger deep into her throat so she couldn't pull it out; He moved out of the way as she fell, writing in agony, but unable to make a sound.

Rika tried to scream or call Rabe, but she couldn't; all she could produce was a pained whine. Her blood was coagulating, slowing her movements. Her thrashing slowed and weakened, until it stopped, her eyes closing as she finally died. Both Atherin and Tyme kept themselves from flinching or showing how horrified they were. Tyme hesitated but reached down to retrieve his dagger. When he pulled it out he quickly put it away and went to check of Atherin and Raven.

Raven was kneeling beside Atherin, making sure he was okay. He was relieved Rika was finally dead, but was more concerned with Atherin. "Tyme, we need to get him back to Horai before the venom starts to really affect him..." "Alright, looks like shopping will jut have to take the back burner." Tyme replied as he helped Atherin to his feet. Atherin leaned on him shakily, his breathing starting to become ragged and labored. He was doing his best to keep the hallucinations from taking him.

Shadow quickly absorbed Raven, and Azel carried Atherin up. Tyme got up his own way. They landed in the hanger, and Azel released Atherin. "We need to get him to the medical room..." Tyme took Atherin from Azel. To the Organoid Tyme had scored some brownie points by killing Rika. He and Raven took him to the medical facility. After placing Atherin on one of the beds did he wrap Atherin's shoulder and had Raven help him with his wounds. Both were waiting for when Atherin would start hallucinating again. After Atherin's wounds had been tended to, Raven helped Tyme with his wounds. He had more wounds than Atherin, but they weren't as deep

"Thanks Raven." Tyme said. "Keep an eye on him... I'm gonna go tell the other's what happened." He said as he left the medical facility. A few minutes after he had left did Atherin try to get Raven's attention. He wanted to make sure that Raven knew that he didn't mean anything he said. Raven saw him trying to get his attention. He walked over to Atherin and sat down in a chair beside the bed. "Atherin? What's wrong?"

"Just...wanted to let...y-you know that I...don't mean anything that I say...if it turns out to be hurtful..." Atherin struggled to say. Raven nodded. "I know..." he said. Atherin felt a little more relieved after telling him that. He didn't want it to be like last time. Raven didn't say anything, knowing the hallucinations would start soon. He just hoped they weren't as bad as last time...

Atherin's vision blurred again, and after a few minutes did it return. He sat up, not even feeling the wound on his shoulder. He looked around the place, hardly noticing Raven. Raven didn't know what Atherin was hallucinating about, or looking for, but he knew there was only one way for him to find out. "Atherin? Is there…something wrong?"

Atherin looked at Raven when he said his name. He didn't recall ever giving a human his name, but whatever, he was waiting for someone to return. He decided he'd answer the human's questions to pass the time. "Nothing's wrong. I'm just waiting for someone to come back, human." Raven blinked. Human? He figured he was hallucinating back before he had met him, and probably back before Jurei was found. "Who are you waiting for, Atherin?" he asked.

"I'm waiting for my friend, Serrer. She's supposed to come home today." Atherin answered. Raven blinked. "Serrer? You mean that... Serpaire Organoid?" he said, having to think to remember what Atherin had called her. Atherin took much more interest in Raven after hearing that. "Do you know her?" "...yeah... I do..." Raven answered. "Something bothering you about her? You don't sound too happy to hear her name." "I've.... just heard of her before, that's all..." Raven lied.

Atherin took a moment to study Raven, but he couldn't find anything to suggest that he wanted to cause harm to either him or Serrer. "I didn't know Serrer's name was known by humans..." Atherin mused to himself. Raven shrugged. "I don't remember where I heard it..." he lied again. Atherin didn't question him any further. He was getting worried by the fact that Serrer had yet to come back. Raven didn't say anything. He didn't want Atherin to find him out, and doe Eve knows what to him. Atherin shifted nervously. Where was she? He hoped that she didn't get hurt... Raven saw this and looked up at him. "You alright?" "She's not here yet.... I hope she didn't get hurt..." "I'm sure she's fine... she can... protect herself..." Raven said, muttering the last part.

Atherin closed his eyes for a few minutes, and Raven thought that he had fallen asleep. He was all for that as it meant that when he woke up Atherin wouldn't be under the venom's hold any longer. He went to push Atherin back down onto the bed, but stopped when he saw his eyes open up. So much for his earlier thought... "....How come...they're not after you Raven?"

Raven blinked. "What? What do you mean Atherin?" he asked, confused. "The Organoids... Do you not remember that we fell into this hellish pit?" Atherin asked, looking at Raven disbelievingly. Raven's eyes widened in surprise, _'How does he know about that?!' _he thought in shock. But he decided to play along with it. "Yeah... just... let me get you out of these vines and out of here..." he said.

Atherin looked around him, not 'seeing' the medical facility, but seeing the semi-dark confines of the chamber that they had been dragged to. "...Where's...that black Organoid? The one that spewed that vapor onto us?" Raven just about gasped. _'How does he know about __her__?!_' he thought frantically, not believing what he was saying. "I... I don't know... I think she... just left us for the vines..." Raven said, struggling to think of something.

Atherin wasn't sure he bought that. After all they were both covered in a gooey like substance... "...But...why would she just leave us after going through all the trouble to bring us here? And not to mention...we're covered in this nasty...slime..." Atherin replied, as he gave a disgusted look as he 'pulled' a strand of the slime off his shoulder.

Raven blinked. _'He knows about __that__ too?!_' he thought in surprise. "I think she wants that... plant to tire us out, so she can... well..." he trailed off, "... and that goo is venom..." Hearing that the slime that was on him was poisonous didn't increase Atherin's morale. "And you couldn't have told me this sooner because...?" "Well... I didn't realize it..." Raven answered. He was so confused, how could Atherin know about the Pit?!

Atherin just gave him an irritated huff as he 'tried' to free himself from the 'vines' that held him fast...since Raven wasn't making any move to do so. Atherin growled. He wasn't having any luck with the vines and he was sure that black Organoid would come back to check on them soon. "Don't just stand there, jackass! Help get these vines off me!" Raven tried to 'help' get the 'vines' off of Atherin, even though there were no vines on him. Atherin was getting further irritated by the fact that Raven wasn't doing a good job at getting these vines off him. But he let it slide, figuring that the slime was making him weak, like it had to him. Suddenly, Atherin looked over to 'entrance' of the chamber, his eyes narrowed at whatever he had 'heard'. Raven blinked and stopped moving. "What is it, Atherin?" he asked.

"...The black Organoid...she's coming back..." Atherin whispered, not wanting to gain her attention. Raven didn't know how to react. "She's back?" he said quietly. Atherin shushed him. He could see the black Organoid's silver eyes watching them... Raven followed his gaze, looking at the 'Organoid'. He didn't say anything, waiting for Atherin to say or do something. Atherin narrowed his eyes at the creature. She wasn't getting any closer to them, so perhaps she'd leave them alone after a few minutes. Raven turned and looked at 'Libelle' again. Atherin wasn't moving or fighting the 'vines' anymore, so he decided to sit back down on the chair again beside Atherin's bed.

After a few tense minutes on Atherin's end, did he relax. The black Organoid had decided to just let them be... Raven looked over at Atherin. "You alright?" he asked, ignoring 'Libelle' for the moment. "I'd be better if these damn vines weren't on me..." He growled out. "And the black Organoid decided to leave us be...for now..." "Sorry Atherin, but I can't get them off..." Raven said, "And that's good... at least that buys us a little time..."

Atherin sighed, but didn't push it any further. The 'vines' weren't going to let go of him and neither he nor Raven had the energy to remove them. "...How come...you looked so surprised when I talked about this place and the black Organoid?" Raven didn't say anything immediately. A few minutes later he looked from 'Libelle' to Atherin. "I'll tell you later, now really isn't the time..." Raven said quietly, as if to avoid drawing the 'Organoid's' attention.

Atherin turned to talk to him, but stared at a spot just above Raven's shoulder. The 'vines' were starting to capture Raven too and if that happened then neither of them would be able to escape. Raven blinked. "Atherin? Is something wrong?" he asked, not understanding what he was staring at. "The vines... They're on your shoulder..." Atherin said pointing to the best of his ability.

Raven blinked again. He glanced at his shoulder, but of course there was nothing there. He didn't know how to react. "Don't just stare at it! Get it off ya! If you get caught as well there's no way we're getting outta here alive!" Raven didn't know what he should do. There weren't any vines, so he didn't have anything to 'get off'. Atherin growled in irritation again, before he tried to move to get it off himself. For _some_ reason or other Raven was acting awfully stupid, considering there was an Organoid waiting to eat them. He grasped the 'vine' and pulled it off Raven.

Raven looked at Atherin again. Apparently one of the vines had tried to wrap around him, or at least that's what he thought. Atherin wanted to make a smart ass comment to him, but his chest suddenly tightened, causing him to gasp in surprise. He hadn't expected that to happen. Perhaps the 'poison' was starting to get to him... "Atherin? What's wrong?!" Raven asked, hearing him gasp. "B-Breathing...t-troubles..." He managed to say in between attempts at trying to get air. Raven didn't know what to do. There really wasn't anything he could do...

Atherin shut his eyes tight. He was in a lot of pain and was extremely weak. His wrists, ankles and throat burned at every move he made or when he tried to breathe. He knew that he had been burned with silver and was lucky that it didn't get into his system. He didn't open his eyes, it was too bright and he couldn't take it any more. Raven looked over at Atherin. His eyes were closed, and he looked like he was in pain. "Atherin? Are you alright?" he asked, concerned with his condition.

Atherin opened his eyes the barest of slits but Raven knew that he was being glared at. He was kind of thankful that Atherin wouldn't open his eyes more than that for fear of the full glare he'd receive. He could tell Atherin was trying to say something, but he just couldn't form the words he wanted to say. Raven looked at Atherin oddly. He knew the hallucination must have changed, but to what, he didn't know. "Atherin? What's wrong?" he asked quietly, not knowing what was wrong.

"...Li...ar..." He finally managed to rasp out. That couldn't be good. Atherin was able to talk fine just a moment ago and now it sounded like he hadn't used his voice in years. Raven blinked. _'Liar?' _he thought, _'Why did he say that?_' he mused, looking at Atherin in confusion. "What, Atherin?" "....You...lied...me... ...Th...en...." He never finished his sentence as he gabbed at his throat; the pain was just too much for him to try and talk. Raven blinked again. "Lied?" he said, "What are you talking about Atherin?"

"Grrr... You...lied... S-Sa...id...Pro-oz...en," a pause as he tried to force himself to continue to speak before he continued, "wanted...s-see me... B-Back...s-stabbed me...and.....l-locked me away.... U-Used...s-silver sha-ackles....to k-keep me s-sub...dued...along...w-with...ch-charm used on....vi-village...." Atherin forced out. How could Raven not remember doing that to him!? And now he was acting all 'buddy-buddy' again.

Raven blinked in surprise. "Atherin? What are you talking about?! I never did anything like that to you!" Raven defended. "...Liar..." He rasped again. If he only had just a little more strength he'd attack Raven. He doubted that Raven would ever know the pain he had inflicted upon him. Raven sighed. "Atherin... I didn't hurt you... you know I'd never use silver on you..." he said truthfully, not understanding why Atherin thought he had done that to him.

Raven could see that he wasn't getting anywhere with trying to convince Atherin other wise. He had opened his eyes all the way now, and they held nothing but hate, agony and then more hate. Without warning claws came flying his way, but he dodged him, being in better shape than Atherin was. Raven stepped away from Atherin, starting to get scared. "Atherin! What are you doing?!" he shouted, unsure of why Atherin was blaming him for doing those things to him.

Atherin didn't answer him. His vocals were shot and he wouldn't be able to use then for a while. He instead stood up, shakily and painfully, but he stood up. Raven didn't move or say anything. He didn't know why Atherin was accusing him of such things, but he knew it was the hallucinations talking, and not Atherin. Atherin took a shaky step forward, as if he was afraid that he'd fall down. He was still glaring death at Raven, and if he has his way he'll make sure that he _ends_ up dead.

Raven didn't take a step back. He was worried about Atherin's condition. He looked like he could barely stand, and he was afraid he could end up hurting himself if he lost his balance. He ignored the glare Atherin was giving him, not letting it get to him. Atherin took another step forward. He was confused for the briefest of seconds before deciding that he was just making it much easier on him.

Raven still didn't take a step back. He knew he was in real danger, but he didn't want to leave Atherin in his state. "Atherin, don't..." he said quietly, "I didn't hurt you... you know I'd never use silver against you..." Atherin only narrowed his hate filled eyes at Raven. His breathing was becoming more and more difficult but he was determined to kill this human in front of him. He took another step forward, his fangs were bared and his claws were as sharp as he could get them.

Raven still didn't back away. He could tell Atherin's breathing was getting worse, and that worried him. Atherin's bared fangs and claws concerned him, but he was more worried about Atherin's condition to care about that. Atherin faulted in his steps and he almost fell, but he caught himself. He wouldn't be able to stay standing for much longer. He had to do this now or never. He feared that Raven would kill him if he got the chance. He raised his left clawed hand, his eyes holding the full intention of cutting Raven as deep as he could, or killing him if he aimed for his neck.

Raven finally stepped back, staying just out of his range. Atherin's condition was deteriorating, and that worried him. "Atherin just let me help you! I'm not going to hurt you!" he said, trying to get the vampire to come back to his senses. He suddenly had an idea, but he knew it meant leaving him defenseless. He pulled out his still-sheathed silver knife, and tossed it aside. If that didn't convince Atherin that he wasn't going to hurt him, nothing would. Atherin's eyes widen a fraction as he saw the knife being pulled out, even if it was still sheathed. He watched as Raven tossed it aside, but that wouldn't deter him from his goal. Raven could still get to it if he fell. He hadn't even heard Raven's words as he was preoccupied with willing himself to stay standing. He lowered his arm a little, but took a step closer to Raven; he was still intent on killing him. When he had regained the distance he raised his clawed hand again. He wasn't about to let Raven go.

Raven stood his ground this time. But he wasn't about to just let Atherin kill him. He knew Atherin's reflexes would be slowed by the venom, and he knew he'd be able to avoid an attack, even at such a close distance. Atherin finally slashed down toward Raven. He knew his reflexes were slow, but he would make up for that by his sheer determination to stay standing until he saw Raven dead.

Raven avoided the attack, but just barely. He didn't back away, still worried about Atherin. Atherin growled lowly in irritation, but he got closer again. He readied himself for another try at Raven. Raven still didn't back away, still concerned for his friend. He wasn't going to leave him in this state. Atherin tried again to claw Raven. It was as if Raven was making fun of him and that angered him even more. "Atherin, stop!" Raven tried to get through to him, avoiding the attack again.

Atherin ignored him and tried again, stumbling a little. He caught himself though. His body really was getting harder and harder to keep standing. Raven edged a little closer, getting more and more concerned with Atherin. He was having problems standing, and he knew he could seriously hurt himself if he fell. Atherin took the chance to swipe at Raven when he got closer. He didn't know if he hit him or not.

Raven narrowly avoided his claws, but didn't back away. He could tell Atherin was having trouble staying on his feet, and he didn't want him to accidentally hurt himself. Atherin stumbled again, but he once again stopped himself from falling. He edged slightly closer to Raven to try and have a better chance of hitting him. He was still getting angrier by the fact that Raven was still 'toying' with him.

Raven didn't back away, even though Atherin was within striking distance. He knew Atherin wasn't going to be able to stay on his feet much longer... Atherin edged a little closer, but gravity finally caught him. He couldn't balance himself fast enough to keep from falling.

Raven saw him start to fall, and realized instantly he was going to fall on the knife he had tossed aside. It was partly out of its sheath, and he knew if Atherin fell on it, it would seriously injure him. He immediately reached out and caught Atherin, not letting him fall onto the knife. He helped him back to his feet, not wanting him to stumble again.

Atherin started to freak out. Raven had caught him for some reason that eluded his poor hallucinating mind. He didn't want Raven touching him, thinking that he was going to hurt him with some sort of concealed weapon. He did the only thing a panicking vampire would do in his place and tore at Raven's shoulder, trying to do as much damage as possible while getting Raven to let go of him. Raven yelped in pain and let go of him, stumbling backwards. He clutched at his shoulder, trying to stop the bleeding. Seeing that he had done some damage to Raven, Atherin tried once again to inflict more damage...preferably on his chest or throat. Raven managed to avoid his attack, but just barely. Being wounded slowed his reflexes slightly, but it was enough to put him in danger.

Atherin had noticed something in his delusional state. Whenever he had stumbled Raven had always made an attempt at getting closer to try and catch him, for reasons he didn't understand nor want to. He'd give it a try. He started to get closer to Raven, but decided to try his experiment and faked 'falling'. Raven immediately went to help him, not wanting him to fall and hurt himself in his state.

Atherin smirked and slashed at Raven's chest. He didn't think that Raven would actually try to catch him again after what had just happened. Raven cried out in pain and staggered backwards, grabbing at the wounds in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding. They weren't that deep, but they bled profusely. Atherin noticed that Raven was preoccupied with his bleeding chest to pay too much attention to him. He decided that he'd try and end this now. He made a lunge at Raven, hoping he'd be able to pin him.

Raven managed to avoid Atherin's attack, but only just. He tried to back away, but he was getting a little uneasy on his feet. Atherin growled lowly again as Raven had avoided his lunge. With some of his remaining strength he spun around and grabbed Raven, throwing him as hard as he could into the nearby wall. Raven cried out in pain as he hit the wall, the blow knocking him senseless. He slid to the ground, unable to keep standing. He knew Atherin would kill him if he didn't get back up, so he tried to stand but couldn't, collapsing onto his side, unable to get back up.

Seeing that Raven wouldn't be moving any time soon, Atherin slowly stalked over to him. He looked at him for a moment before kneeling down in front of Raven. Raven opened his eyes and looked up at Atherin. He didn't try to move, not that he really could. He knew Atherin was going to kill him, and he couldn't do anything to defend himself...

Atherin glared at Raven to the best of his ability. He would make Raven suffer for what he had done to him. "....Y-You're...g-gonna pay...for....p-putting me th-through.....hell...." He rasped out. He made sure to hold Raven still so he had a clear shot at his neck. Raven's eyes widened, hearing what Atherin had said. He tried to struggle, but he couldn't get free. Atherin was going to bite his neck and drain him, and there wasn't anything he could do...

Atherin kept Raven from moving. His fangs were bared and he went to bite Raven's neck. Before he could pierce the skin on his neck though he was suddenly pinned himself, his bewildered mind just couldn't comprehend what was going on. He looked and saw Tyme, his own brother, pinning him, keeping him from killing Raven. He was confused and feeling betrayed all over again. His _brother_ was helping his _enemy_! Raven took a second to realize what had happened. Tyme had knocked Atherin away before he could kill him. He tried to get up again, but could barely move, so he just lay there, unable to get back up.

Atherin tried to struggle against Tyme. He was doing every thing that he could to let his brother know how confused, angry and hurt he was. He wanted Tyme to let go of him so he could finish what he started. He was struggling so much and so hard against Tyme that Raven swore he heard something pop out of place. Raven was surprised at how desperate Atherin was fighting against Tyme. He was worried Atherin would hurt himself or Tyme if he kept fighting like that...

After a few more minutes of Atherin struggling against Tyme did he quiet down and stop. His breathing was ragged, and his head fell, his eyes partly closed. It would seem that the hallucinations had finally subsided. Raven sighed in relief, glad that was over. He tried to get up again but failed. He gave up and just lay there, saving the rest of his strength. His wounds were still bleeding, and a small pool of blood had formed around his chest. His wounds weren't life threatening, so he didn't worry about them too much.

A few minutes later Atherin came around from his semi-unconsciousness. Needless to say he was surprised and confused as to **why** Tyme was pinning him to the wall. He looked down and saw that his claws had blood covering them. He started to panic, thinking he had seriously hurt Raven. Raven had closed his eyes and had nearly fallen asleep. He was exhausted from having to 'fight' Atherin and the wounds and the blood loss wasn't helping.

Seeing that Atherin was himself again Tyme let him go. Atherin grabbed his shoulder; it was oddly enough hurting for some reason or other. He looked around and couldn't see Raven, that further made him panic. Tyme saw this and moved out of his way. He spotted Raven a little away from him and he just about died when he saw that there was blood around him and he 'looked' dead. He got up and went over to him, hoping that he didn't kill his best friend. Raven didn't realize Atherin had gotten up, or that he was standing in front of him. He was half asleep, or half unconscious, he wasn't sure.

Atherin kneeled back down in front of Raven. He checked his pulse, and was relieved to find one. It was still strong, so perhaps Raven was just tired from defending himself... He looked at the wounds he had caused and decided to 'seal' them. It was the least he could do to try and fix what he had done. He used his good arm, as the other he somehow had dislocated his shoulder, and started to 'heal' Raven's wounds. Raven 'woke up' when he felt someone trying to heal him. He still didn't open his eyes, unsure of what was going on. When Atherin didn't a response from Raven as he 'healed' him he started to get worried again. He lightly shook his shoulder, trying to get him to wake up.

Raven opened his eyes slightly, and blinked slowly. His vision was still blurry from getting thrown against the wall. He looked up, and saw Atherin. He looked at him blankly for a long moment, unsure of what he was going to do. Seeing Raven's blank stare didn't do much to improve Atherin's morale. He ran his hand though his hair worriedly before waving it in front of Raven's eyes. He wanted some sort of response from him. Raven blinked and swatted Atherin's hand. "Stop it Dracula... I'm fine..." Raven muttered, forcing himself to sit up. He put his hand on his left side, his ribs sore from hitting the wall.

Atherin looked down. He didn't know what to say to Raven after figuring out that he had attacked him again... Not that it was too hard to figure out in the first place. It must have been bad if Tyme had to keep a hold of him. Raven looked up at Atherin. "You alright?" he asked, not knowing if he had been injured.

Atherin nodded his head. It was Raven he was worried about. After seeing that everything was alright did Tyme leave. He felt that his presence might hinder their explanations of what had happened. "You don't look alright..." Raven said, gritting his teeth slightly at a pain in his side. "....My shoulder's....dislocated.... But it's you that I'm worried about..." Atherin replied quietly.

Raven blinked. "I'm fine... apart from those scratches you healed and a bruised side, I'm fine...." Raven said. Atherin didn't reply back. He was trying to comprehend why he had attacked Raven in the first place, and the fact that Tyme was needed to stop him. Raven didn't like how quiet Atherin was. "What's wrong?" he asked, worried.

Atherin shook his head 'no'. He wasn't too sure what was wrong, and thus couldn't answer that question. Raven sighed. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong...." "...But...I don't know what's wrong..." Atherin replied. "Well... that complicates things..." Raven muttered. "...Sorry..." Atherin said looking off to the side. Raven rolled his eyes. "Don't start acting like this..." he sighed. "...But...I attacked you....again...." "It's alright... I'm fine now..." Raven said.

Atherin sighed. He was glad that Raven wasn't afraid of him like last time, but he still felt odd about not being yelled at. He was curious, however, about what he had hallucinated about. "Raven...what happened this time?"

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_**Author's Note:**_ Yay!! They finally got rid of one of the Organoids!! But now they have two, much stronger and furious males to deal with!! O: And poor Raven, had to deal with Atherin hallucinating again, but at least this time Raven didn't take it to heart. What's going to happen next? You'll just have to wait and find out!! Please Review!!


	33. Rabe's Revenge

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do __**NOT**__ own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul, Rika, Avea, Serrer and Libelle belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME.**__ The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me, but I do not mind if you use them without my permission. However, if you use Jurei please make note of it in your disclaimer._

_**Author's Note:**_ Hey everyone! I was able to update earlier than I had planed because things have settled down a little for me. As for the next update, depending on work, it should be sometime next week or around there. I'll try to update on a weekly/two week basis if possible. I know many of you are dying to see what happens in this story. Anyways, here we are at chapter 33 and as the title suggests…someone's getting hurt ^^;

To Kari Suttle: As for Atherin's last hallucination, it's nothing to worry about. It was a nightmare that I had a few weeks ago and we decided to make it a hallucination for him. There's no merit to it, so you don't have to worry. I hope that that clears it up a little for you! And as for why I haven't updated this recently, it's because of some troubles at home. Mainly work and school loans ^^; But things are getting better now, so expect more frequent updates!!

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me. We hope that you enjoy and we thank those of you that Reviewed!!

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Ͽ Rabe's Revenge Ͼ

Raven sighed. "Well, for the first hallucination, you were waiting for...Serrer to come. Needless to say that worried me a bit..." Raven said. Atherin blinked. He was _so_ not expecting that. "Nothing happened though, right?" Raven shook his head 'no'. "Not really... you sorta got suspicious when I mentioned I knew Serrer, but nothing major..." Atherin was relieved to say the least. He probably was suspicious of him, but just let it drop.

"Now... the next hallucination was... interesting..." Raven said, sighing. That piqued Atherin's interest. "Interesting...how?" Raven couldn't help but smirk. "Well... first of all, how did you know about the Pit? That's an Imperial military secret..." Atherin just cocked his head to the side. "...The Pit...? Military secret? What on Zi are you talking about?" Raven blinked. "You were hallucinating about the Pit, particularly about Libelle, one of the Hohle Organoids..." "...A...Hohle...Organoid...? What's that?"

"It's a breed of Organoids that live in caves. They're extremely dangerous. I've... had a run-in with them before..." he muttered the last part. Atherin was completely bewildered. He hadn't ever come into contact with these...Hohle...Organoids before... "....How do you know one of their names?"

"Well... she... tried to eat me... a few times..." Raven said, sighing, "... but how you hallucinated about her and got every detail about her den right is beyond me...." It was beyond Atherin too. The only reasonable explanation as to how he'd be able to do that was if he was what his people called a 'Dream Seer', which he was not.

"Well... you had a bit of a temper in that hallucination. You kept thinking her carnivorous plant had a hold of you, and when I wasn't helping getting the vines off you, you called me... a few colorful names, until I 'helped' you..." Atherin couldn't help but snicker slightly. It was rare for him to get a temper so quickly. He could imagine how well that hallucination played out considering what Raven was telling him.

"Well, after I tried to help you, you complained about the slime that you said was all over you. When I tried to explain that was Libelle's venom, you sorta snapped at me for not telling you earlier..." "...Well wouldn't you snap if I knew what it was but you didn't?" Atherin asked. "Probably..." Raven said, "... a few minutes after that, you said Libelle had come back. I tried to say something but you shushed me..." "...I don't have any comment for that." Atherin said, smirking slightly.

Raven smirked. "After that, it got... interesting. A few minutes later, you looked at me really strangely. When I asked what was wrong, you said the vines were trying to get me too. Well, I didn't know how to react, so I just sat there. That aggravated you…a lot..." "...Why though?" Atherin asked. He didn't remember any of this nor had he ever seen the Pit. So it was confusing him as to why he'd get so aggravated.

"Well, I didn't try to get the 'vine' off me when you told me it was trying to coil around me. So, you gave me the weirdest look. You probably thought I was stupid, because I wasn't reacting to the 'vine' trying to grab me..." "I guess I would think you stupid for not trying to get something off you that's not supposed to be there..." Atherin mused. Raven nodded. "Yeah well, you weren't too happy with me not trying to get it off that was for sure..." "I can only imagine..."

Raven nodded. "Soon after that... your hallucination changed and... things went downhill... fast..." Atherin grew down hearted again after hearing that. He was almost too afraid to ask, but he did so anyways. "...What...happened...?"

"Well... at first you just sat there with your eyes closed. When I asked if something was wrong, you called me a liar, and accused me of using silver shackles to chain you, and some sort of charm..." That...didn't really make any sense to Atherin. He had never thought of something like that happening or ever seeing it in his dreams... However, he prompted Raven to continue so he could try to figure this hallucination out.

"Of course I didn't know what you were talking about. But you looked like you were in a lot of pain, which concerned me. I tried talking to you, but you tried to attack me..." "...Sorry... Even if I wasn't aware of what I was doing..."

"It's okay Atherin, I knew that..." Raven said, "But, you managed to get to your feet, and walked towards me. You raised your hand, like you were going to kill me with your claws. I... tried to show you I wasn't going to hurt you by tossing my silver knife aside, but you still slashed at me, but I avoided it..." "...But it looks like you couldn't avoid me forever..." Atherin replied quietly.

Raven nodded. "You tried to claw me a few more times, until you started to fall. You would have fallen on the silver knife, which had come partly out of its sheath when I threw it. But, I caught you before you got anywhere near it..." "...I can guess that I took any opportunity to hurt you..." Atherin said quietly.

Raven nodded. "You... panicked when I grabbed you and helped you to your feet, and you clawed my shoulder. I immediately backed away, but you tried to slash me again. I managed to avoid it, but being wounded made me a little slower..." Atherin remained silent. He was trying not to let this bother him as both of them knew that he didn't mean it. But he was still wondering where Tyme came into play...

"Well... you tried clawing me a few more times, before you started to 'fall'. I immediately tried to help, but you were faking it. The moment I got close to help you…you slashed my chest with your claws..." "...That was a dirty trick I played..." Atherin mumbled. Raven nodded. "Scared me to death..." he said, "... I tried to stop my wounds from bleeding, and you took that chance to lunge at me. I managed to avoid it, but just barely. You spun around, and before I could react, you grabbed me and threw me against the wall..." "...I must have been desperate then..."

Raven nodded. "That nearly knocked me unconscious. I tried to get up, but I couldn't, and I collapsed. You knelt down in front of me, and said something along the lines of 'you'll pay for putting me through hell...' before you held me still. I tried to struggle, but I could barely move. You... went to bite my neck, but just before you bit down, Tyme showed up and pinned you to the wall..." That explains why Tyme was pinning him... "I can't believe I tried to bite you again..."

"It's alright... you didn't, and you didn't hurt me all that much.... it could have been worse..." Atherin nodded. He could have done a lot more damage than he already had. Raven sighed. "Don't feel bad... I probably should have backed off instead of trying to get you to calm down..." "....With what you've told me so far I don't think that would have made any difference..." Atherin pointed out.

"True..." Raven sighed, "... but if I had just left the room, none of this would have happened..." "....Maybe... But I could have also somehow got out of the room and run into Donnie or someone else..." Raven nodded. "That would have been a disaster..." Atherin agreed with that. If he had thought Raven had done something to him he doubted he'd have been able to tell the twins apart. "But... you didn't, so don't worry..." Raven said, "I'm fine now, so don't dwell on it..."

"Alright, though...do you mind helping me popping my shoulder back into place? It's really starting to hurt now...." Atherin said as he indicated his right shoulder. Raven nodded. He managed to get beside Atherin, and grabbed Atherin's right shoulder lightly. "This is gonna hurt..." he said, before he popped his shoulder back in. Atherin bit his lower lip to keep from yelping. But it was soon over and he sighed, glad that it was back where it was suppose to be. "Thanks."

"No problem..." Raven said, managing to stand. He was uneasy on his feet, and had to lean against the wall to keep from falling. Atherin got up as well, but that was mistake as he was still weak from the venom. He dropped back to the floor on his knees. It looked like he'd be here for a little while. Raven immediately knelt down beside Atherin. "You alright?" he asked, not knowing what was wrong. "Yeah... I guess my body's still recovering from the venom...and me moving when I shouldn't have been..." Raven sat down beside him. "I guess I should have expected that..."

Atherin just sighed. He was glad that this would be the last time any of them would have to go through this venom. That caused him to start thinking about what they had done to kill Rika... It made his heart just about skip a beat and his adrenaline pump through his blood from sheer disgust and nervousness. Raven noticed this. "Atherin? Is something wrong?" he asked.

Atherin didn't know if he'd be able to tell Raven what he was feeling exactly. How was he supposed to talk about watching an Organoid die in a similar manner that he would if he was ever stabbed with something silver? Raven blinked. "What's bugging you?" he asked, knowing something was on Atherin's mind.

Atherin didn't answer, trying to get the horrible images from his head. He knew that they still had two more Organoids to go, so he couldn't let this bother him. Even if he did talk to Raven about it, he didn't know how to word what he was feeling exactly. It was....hard...watching Rika die, even if she did want to kill them. Raven was getting worried about Atherin not answering him. But he didn't say anything.

Something caught Atherin's gaze from the corner of his eye. It was Raven's knife...then he remembered that the 'Demonsbane' was still strapped to him. He undid its bindings, and put it as far away from him as he could in his tried condition. Raven didn't know what to think when he saw Atherin do that. But he just kept quiet and leaned back against the wall again.

Atherin pulled his legs up to his chest. It was an old habit that refused to die when he was sad, nervous, or just feeling lonely. He wanted to talk about this, but he just didn't know how to start. Raven saw this. "Atherin, what's wrong?" he asked, knowing something was wrong with his friend.

He might as well try to talk about this. It wouldn't do any good to just keep it bottled up inside him. Talking to Tyme was out of the question as they both came to a mutual understanding about it. "...The...fight...earlier today..." He started off, unsure of how to word it exactly.

Raven blinked. "What about the fight earlier?" he said, until he thought about it more. "... It was Rika dying, wasn't it?" Atherin nodded slightly. He drew in a shaky breath, a sign that he was thinking about it, and more than likely trying not to envision himself or Tyme dying that way. Raven sighed. He didn't know what to say to make Atherin feel any better...

Atherin drew his knees closer to him, laying his head on them and shutting his eyes. He didn't want to think about this, but he also didn't want to keep it bottled up. Raven would have to brush up on his therapy...as he was more than likely going to have to do this after every battle. Raven sighed. "Do you want to talk about it, Atherin? It'll make you feel better..."

Atherin opened his eyes and nodded slightly again. Yes, he wanted to get this off his chest but he didn't know how to word what he was feeling to a human. Raven sighed. "Atherin... I can't help you if you don't say anything..." How did he want to articulate this? ".....It's....it's just.....that it was....hard to....to watch..... If....Tyme or me....were to be.....s-stabbed like that....we'd.....we'd die....in a similar....manner...." Atherin replied quietly.

Raven nodded. "If something... were to happen to you or Tyme... how long would you last?" he asked. ".....About two hours....give or take a few minutes..." Atherin replied. Raven nodded again. "That's more than enough time for you to get help..." "....That doesn't help me feel any better...." "Sorry..." Raven said quietly.

"....Besides..... Silver....hurts...a lot.... I can feel my skin grow hot when ever I get near it...." Raven nodded. He looked over and saw his silver knife close to him. He kicked it away. Atherin grew quiet again. He felt a little better now that he had talked to some about it. He put his head back down and closed his eyes. He was still nervous, but it would pass. Raven looked over at Atherin. "Is there anything else bothering you?"

Atherin thought about it for a moment. Was there anything else that was bothering him at the moment? He was still uneasy about what he had witnessed earlier, but he didn't want to talk about it any more. Other than that he couldn't think of anything. "No... I think I'm just stressed about what happened earlier..." Raven nodded. "I can't blame you..."

Atherin nodded. Now...all that they had to do was get rid of two more Organoids. Two more Organoids that were more dangerous than the one they had just destroyed.... That thought depressed him a little... Raven sighed and leaned back fully against the wall. They had taken down one of the Organoids, but that left the two, much stronger males for them to deal with. But he knew they'd figure out a way to defeat them. The rest of the day passed with Atherin resting and regaining his nerves about what he had just witnessed… After all, it wouldn't do for him to scare himself when the next battle came around.

-----

About a week had passed since Tyme had killed Rika. Both vampires seemed to be okay on the outside, but Raven knew otherwise. Currently Atherin and Raven were lounging in the Zoids hanger. Atherin seemed most at ease there, and Raven guessed it was because he was near his Zoid and Organoid. Raven was sitting down on the floor, Shadow curled up around him. He yawned, getting bored. "Hey Dracula, do you want to do anything?"

Atherin looked down at Raven from on top of Eiji's back. "Like...?" "I don't know... maybe go out to the garden or something?" Raven suggested. Atherin considered it for a moment before he agreed. Raven had noticed that he was getting more and more reclusive since the 'incident'. The vampire grabbed the 'Demonsbane' that was in Eiji's cockpit and then jumped down beside Raven. Raven told Shadow to stay behind and keep an eye on things. He got up and he and Atherin walked out to the garden.

Today was a little cloudy, but it was pleasant out. It was cool and there was hardly any sun showing though, the perfect temperature for a vampire. Atherin sat down near the pond, enjoying the cool weather. Raven sat down beside him, looking down at the fish in the pond. Atherin watched the fish as well. They were all coming over to where he and Raven were sitting, thinking that they were going to feed them.

Raven got up and walked down to the edge of the water, where there was a small bush. He picked a few handfuls of berries from it, and walked back up to Atherin. He handed him some. "I think we owe the fish an 'apology'..."

"Yeah..." Atherin replied as he took the berries Raven had handed to him. He got a little closer to the waters edge, and tossed the berries in a few at a time. He was slightly amused at how the fish went ballistic after the berries. Raven tossed a few in as well. The fish quickly ate them, hardly waiting for the berries to hit the water.

Atherin was soon out of berries and the fish that he had attracted to him were still crowding around. Some of them would stick their heads out of the water and try to suck on the pure air before flicking away with a swish of their tail. Needless to say, Atherin was amused by them; the fish that were in his village's pond were _never_ this trusting of a two legged creature... Raven sat down the rest of the berries he had between he and Atherin. "Here's a few more..." he said, continuing to feed the fish that were still gathered around them at the edge of the pond.

Atherin tossed a few more berries in. He then watched as the fish crowded around him, basically jumping out of the water. He was half tempted to try and catch one, but then remembered that he was on Horai and these were Donnie's fish... /....Besides...they probably don't taste good anyways.../ Raven could pretty much tell what Atherin was thinking. "Don't even think about, Dracula..." he said, tossing in a few more of the berries.

"It was a fleeting thought... But I doubt they taste good anyways..." Atherin replied, starting to toss the berries in One. By. One. He was teasing the poor fish, but at least he wasn't causing a disturbance in their pond. Raven rolled his eyes. "Sure..." he said, tossing in a few more berries. "But, when Donnie and I were little, we used to do this and see who could catch the most fish with our hands..."

"...We'd do that too...but we had to dive after our fish.... They didn't trust going anywhere near the surface...." Raven chuckled slightly. "I bet... but I don't suggest we try that here... these fish tend to get annoyed easy, and when they get annoyed, they start biting..." "Even if they are goldfish, I don't particularly savor being bitten... I just might bite back..." Atherin said, chuckling slightly. Raven rolled his eyes. "Yeah... poor fish won't know what hit them..."

They soon ran out of berries, which was fine by Atherin. It was increasingly tempting to try and catch one, but he restrained himself. Most of the fish dispersed after realizing that no more food was being thrown in, but a few still lingered. "You better not eat one of those fish... Donnie will have our hides..." Raven said, "You don't know how difficult it was for Uncle Daniel to get these fish up here in the first place..."

"I'm not gonna eat one! …Even if it _is_ tempting... I know better than to do that...." Atherin defended. "Good..." Raven said, "Besides, those berries are poisonous to humans, so I doubt those fish are edible anyway..." "....I think I hardly qualify to be called 'human'." Atherin replied a little sarcastically. "Still... I think it'd make you sick..." "...I doubt it... I'm immune to poisons...remember?" Raven sighed. "Are we going to argue about this?" he said, looking back down at the fish. "Apparently so." Atherin replied, avoiding being hit by Raven by his remark.

Raven sighed again and leaned back against the grassy bank. "I would push you into the pond, but I really don't feel like getting soaking wet right now..." he said, knowing Atherin would drag him in too. Atherin chuckled, but remained sitting up. He didn't particularly like staring up into the day time sky...even id said sky was cloudy. Raven looked up at the sky. It was quiet and calm today, and unusually cool, which was a welcome relief.

Atherin was enjoying the cool day as well. As he was a creature of the night he liked cool days. In fact, back when his village was still there, when evening came and most humans where in for the night, he and his family were just waking up. ....He didn't even see daylight until the day the massacre happened...

Raven looked over at Atherin. "How's your shoulder feeling?" he asked, trying to start a conversation. "It's alright. It doesn't hurt anymore..." Atherin replied. He still didn't know how it had been dislocated in the first place, but he could make a good guess at what had happened. Raven looked over at him. "Tyme was a little rough on you, wasn't he?" he said, remembering how Tyme had 'fought' with Atherin.

"...I think it might have been the other way around... If he didn't pin me like he did...I could have possibly hurt him too...." Raven nodded. "But you didn't, and that's all that's important..." "Yeah... I'm just glad that we don't have to deal with her venom any more..." Raven nodded. "I don't think I can handle you hallucinating again..." he said, rubbing his healed shoulder where Atherin had scratched him. Atherin looked back to the few remaining fish when Raven rubbed his shoulder. He hated the fact that he had attacked him...again....

Raven noticed that Atherin was avoiding looking at him. "Hey... don't start that again..." he said, pushing him lightly. "Sorry... Could we just...change the subject?"

Raven nodded. "Sure..." he said, "So... why do you want to eat the damn fish? They won't taste good..." "Innate instincts..." A low growl not directed at anyone in particular, "...They basically tell me to 'eat' anything that moves or even looks edible... I do have an insatiable appetite..."

Raven looked over at Atherin. "Even me?" he joked. "At first, yes." Atherin answered, smirking at Raven's shocked expression. Raven rolled his eyes. "Figured as much..." he said, "And now?" "Depends on my mood." Atherin joked. Raven punched his arm. "Very funny Dracula..." he said sarcastically. "At the moment it's increasingly tempting....considering you've forbidden me from eating them." Atherin smirked, indicating the fish. Raven rolled his eyes. "You wouldn't..." he said, smirking. "Again...I believe you've said that before. And as I am 'hungry', tempt me any more and I just may help myself." Raven rolled his eyes. "Maybe... but I wouldn't just _let_ you..." he shot back.

"I know. That's why I'm waiting...for you to 'invite' me to." Atherin smiled, knowing he was pushing Raven's buttons. "'Invite'?" Raven joked, "Like I'd 'invite' you to eat me..." "You 'invite' me without realizing it. There're a number of gestures that you do that you don't even realize we take as an invitation. I've had to school Tyme so he wouldn't take you by surprise for apparently no reason to you." "Really now? What kind of gestures?"

"...You give us a number of clear shots at your neck daily... Do you know how much that drives us up the wall? It also explains why Tyme just gets up and abruptly leaves sometimes." Raven blinked. "Sorry... I don't mean too..." "I know you don't. I've more or less have gotten use to it, but Tyme hasn't."

Raven nodded. "Sorry again... it's not like I _want_ either of you two to bite me..." he said, smirking slightly. "And what's that supposed to mean?" Raven rolled his eyes. "You know damn well what it means..." "It means that you don't like it when I bite you." "Well, I don't mind it; I meant I don't want either or you biting my neck..." Raven clarified. Atherin could have said something, but didn't. He knew he'd just be rebutted. "Then you should have clarified that instead of making me take it in exactly as you say it."

Raven sighed. "Well sorry..." he muttered, "I don't mind you 'feeding' off me at all; I just don't like it when you try to get at my neck is all." Atherin turned to look at the fish again. "...It's not like...I can help it..." He said quietly. Raven sat up. "I know you can't, Atherin."

Atherin sighed quietly. He sometimes wondered what he'd be like if he _was_ human....and not the morbid vampire he was. Raven pushed him again. "Will you stop being so damn downcast?!" "Sorry... This is what five years of cold isolation does to ya..." Atherin replied as he lied down. Raven sighed and lied back down on the grassy bank. "Just lighten up..."

"Yeah, yeah... I hear ya..." Atherin said as he rolled over onto his side, facing away from Raven. Raven sat back up and looked over at him. "Hey, what was that for?" "Don't like to stare into the daytime sky... It hurts my eyes..." "Sure, sure..." Raven said, rolling his eyes as he lied back down. "Don't roll your eyes at me... I may be use to living in the sunlight, but my eyes are a lot more sensitive than yours so it hurts... Even if it is cloudy like today is." "Yeah, sure..." Raven joked, pushing Atherin's buttons. "Your attempts at making me mad will end up in failure. I suggest you go back to watching the clouds roll by." Raven rolled his eyes, but went back to watching the clouds. He didn't want to make Atherin mad.

Some time had passed, and Atherin hadn't said a word to Raven again. Truth be told, he had fallen asleep shortly after Raven had went back to watching the clouds. He hadn't been sleeping well, what with his initial nightmare and now the 'incident'. Raven didn't try to wake Atherin up, knowing he needed the rest. He just watched the clouds.

Atherin was in a deep sleep. He couldn't even hear Raven shifting right next to him trying to get comfortable again. He needed this rest; his body craved it just as much as it craved blood. Raven broke his gaze from the clouds, and looked down at the pond again. He watched the fish for a few minutes, until something caught his eye. He looked over into the bushes, trying to find what had caught his attention. Atherin was still oblivious to the world around him. His light breathing the only sign that Raven had to know he was still alive.

Raven narrowed his eyes and sat up, looking for the source of the movement he had seen. After a minute of searching, he found himself staring at a pair of glowing violet eyes. His heart almost stopped. He slowly reached over and poked Atherin's shoulder. Atherin faintly registered that Raven was trying to wake him up. He had two choices...he could wake up and find out why he was trying to be woken OR he could ignore him and worry about it later. As much as the second option sounded so good at the moment, he decided to see what Raven wanted. He opened his sleep glazed eyes and slowly sat up, waiting for an explanation of some sort.

Raven glanced over at Atherin. "Dracula, don't make any sudden moves..." he said quietly. Atherin didn't think he'd be _able_ to make any sudden moves. Not with his sleep ridden body. He mind was slow to pick up on the fact that Raven sounded a bit panicked... Raven looked over at Atherin again. "Atherin... we're being watched..." he said quietly. "...By who...?" Came his quiet, sleepy question.

"Don't think about it too hard, Dracula..." Raven answered, looking back over at where the glowing eyes were, only to realize they were gone. "Helkat! He's on to us!" Atherin had no clue as to what was going on. But he had a feeling that it wasn't good due to Raven's increasing panic. He tried to wake himself up, but at the moment his body was refusing that action. Raven looked around, trying to find Rabe. He had probably sunken into the shadows, which was why he couldn't find him. "Atherin, help me find Rabe before he attacks!"

Atherin woke up more after hearing that and immediately started to help look for the black Organoid. Had he really been _that_ tired to not even notice the Organoid's presence? Raven pulled out his knife, ready for when he attacked. He still couldn't find him... Atherin unclasped the hilt of the 'Demonsbane' but didn't unsheathe it. He was still tired, but he was trying not to show it. Raven got to his feet, looking around for the black Organoid. But he seemed to have simply vanished... Atherin also got to his feet. He knew that Rabe would be seeking them for revenge for the death of his mate, and it was stupid of him to fall asleep out here in the open.

Raven saw a glint out of the corner of his eye. By the time he turned, Rabe attacked. The Vareix snarled and pounced on Raven, knocking them both into the pond. Atherin immediately clasped the sword hilt and dove in after them. The sword made him a little slower, but he wasn't going to chance Rabe getting a hold of it if he left it on dry land. He saw them at the bottom of the pond and he tried to get to Raven before Rabe could drown him.

Rabe had his claws in Raven's side, preventing Atherin from pulling him from his grip. Raven was struggling to get free, but he didn't have much air. The water was starting to turn red from his blood... Atherin kicked Rabe in the face, making the Organoid let go of Raven. And Raven immediately went back up to the surface as his air supply was almost out. Atherin had stayed a little behind to watch his back, to make sure Rabe didn't try to drag him under again.

Raven broke the surface and gasped for some air. He swam to the bank, and climbed onto shore. Atherin resurfaced shortly after Raven had, and was on the bank as well. Rabe surfaced as well, and flew up into the air... Atherin was looking for Rabe, but after he had sprayed them with water, he had lost sight of him.

Raven slipped on the bank, the grass slick with water and his own blood. He collapsed and grabbed at his side, trying to stop the bleeding before Rabe came back. Atherin kneeled down beside Raven, and started to do a quick 'healing'. It was sloppy, but with Rabe on the prowl, it couldn't be helped.

Raven got to his knees, and looked around for Rabe. He saw him, crouched behind Atherin. "Behind you!" he shouted, but he was too late. Rabe pounced on Atherin, digging his claws into him and snarling in his face. Atherin gritted his teeth, but tired to get the heavy metal Organoid off him. It wasn't working so well, Rabe weighing a whole lot more than he did and his strength couldn't move the Organoid..

Raven reached for his silver knife that he had dropped on the bank, but before he could, Rabe whipped him with his tail, throwing him against the tree, knocking him senseless. Rabe turned back to Atherin. "Now... you will pay for having a hand in my mate's death!" he snarled, digging his claws into his chest.

Atherin cried out in pain. Rabe's claws had dug deeper into him, and coupled with the Organoid's weight he felt like he was being crushed. Rabe smirked at Atherin's pain, growling lowly. He ducked down and snapped his jaws shut on Atherin's shoulder, injecting his venom. Atherin didn't cry out this time, and with the amount of venom Rabe was injecting into him he knew that he wouldn't be able to defend himself...let alone move... Not that he could at the moment...

Rabe released him and looked down at him, smirking evilly. "I'm half tempted to take the 'Demonsbane' and stab you with it and watch you die slowly, vampire..." he hissed, his icy gaze cutting over to the sword. Atherin couldn't hide the fear that statement brought. It was in his eyes as plain as day. And he knew that Rabe wouldn't hesitate to do something like that...

Rabe smirked at Atherin, seeing his fear. He reached over and grabbed Raven's knife, holding it in his talons. "You made a grave mistake it aiding in Rika's death..." he hissed, positioning the blade in his claws to slash at him, "... and you are going to suffer for it..." Atherin's heart nearly stopped when he saw Raven's blade hovering over him...in the claws of an enemy...An enemy that knew his weakness and wouldn't hesitate to use it against him. Rabe's smirked broadened, exposing his razor-sharp teeth. He brought the knife closer, less than an inch from his chest...

Atherin could feel his skin starting to get hot, almost like it was starting to burn and he couldn't pull away from it. If he moved to fast he'd end up cutting himself on the blade that was hovering just bare centimeters above his heart, but if he didn't move it would be plunged into his heart and he'd die instantly. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place and he had to make a decision fast. He opted for the one where he had a chance of surviving. He tried desperately to get his body to move, and he did. The venom still not as strong as Rika's had been on him. Rabe smirked cruelly, and pressed the blade into Atherin's right shoulder, cutting through his shirt and skin. He then slowly tore the blade down past his rib cage on his left side, making a diagonal cut across his body...

Atherin's chest was suddenly searing. He gasped from the shock of it all, before he screamed bloody murder. The silver was burning him a thousand times worse than what he had imagined. He twisted onto his side, clawing at his own chest to try and get the pain to stop even though he knew that it wouldn't. He could see the blood that he was bleeding becoming thicker and thicker. His wound wasn't even bleeding profusely; it was just barely oozing blood out. He knew that that was happening on the inside as well and that terrified him. His breathing had yet to become too difficult but he knew that it would soon.

Rabe smirked, tossing the blade aside, looking at Atherin cruelly. He glanced back at Raven, but he was nearly unconscious. He turned back to Atherin and smirked. "You see what you did to my mate Rika?!" he sneered, narrowing his eyes darkly. Another wave of pain hit Atherin from his wound. He again screamed, but it was in a frequency so high that neither Raven nor Rabe could hear it. All that they could hear was an irritating ringing in their ears or sensors. He tried to curl into a ball but that hurt too much. His breathing got a shade harder, and he was nearly crying. It wouldn't take too much longer until he actually was.

Rabe smirked and stepped away from Atherin. "You shouldn't have killed my mate, vampire..." he hissed, sinking into the shadows and leaving. Raven was shocked beyond belief. Ever since Atherin's scream had snapped him out of his dazed state, he could do little but watch helplessly. And now Atherin had silver in his system and was literally dying in front of him...

Atherin felt his breathing plummet. It was almost as if he was trying to breathe through a pillow again, but he could still tell that he was getting oxygen. His blood had started to congeal more inside him, and he could feel his heart pump harder to try and get his blood flowing smoothly again. He was starting to shake slightly; he was terrified beyond all belief and he couldn't call for help. He couldn't yell for it, nor could he get any mental connections. He was crying now, but he scarcely noticed. He was going to die... That was the only thing that was running through his head...

Raven forced himself to his feet and he ran over to Atherin. He knelt down beside him and shook his shoulder lightly. He was terrified, not able to even think about the pain Atherin was in. Atherin cringed as the sudden motion; no matter how light it was, as it made his wound move. He was still shaking, still crying, and still terrified. He couldn't move very well do to the venom and his deep gaping slash on his chest. He whined, not because Raven was still shaking his shoulder, but because of the pain he was feeling from his chest. He just didn't have the oxygen to spare to scream again.

Raven was panicking. He didn't know what to do. Seeing Atherin in his state scared him more, and he wasn't sure how to help him... Atherin whimpered quietly. He was in pain, and a lot of it. It hurt to breathe and it hurt to move. He opened his eyes...at least he think he did...he couldn't see any thing but black... It was a sign that he was slowly dying... Raven didn't know how to help him. He was getting more and more terrified, knowing Atherin was dying...

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_**Author's Note:**_ D: Oh no!! Now Rabe has really hurt Atherin, to the point that he just might die because of this. Will Raven be able to save him in time or will he be too late to do anything? Things just keep going from bad to worse for these two… So what'll happen next chapter? You'll just have to wait and find out!! Please Review!!


	34. A Brother's Betrayal

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do __**NOT**__ own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul, Rika, Avea, Serrer and Libelle do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME.**__ The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me._

_**Author's Note:**_ Hey everyone!! As promised here's my weekly update!! It's not a terribly long chapter, but it has enough in it to keep you interested!! Last chapter Rabe came back and seriously hurt Atherin! D: Will he make it? Or will Raven be too late in being able to save him? Read and find out!!

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirt37 and me. We thank those of you that Reviewed!!

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Ͽ A Brother's Betrayal Ͼ

Tyme soon came out to the garden. He had heard Atherin scream and had tried to get to him as quickly as he could. It was made a little difficult when he was stopped by just about everyone asking him what was wrong. He didn't want to panic any of them so had told them that he was just looking for Atherin. He spotted his brother, lying on his side, with Raven kneeling beside him. Both were covered in blood, but the thing that made his blood boil was that he could see Raven's dagger a few feet away, bloodied with _his_ brother's blood.

Raven looked up, and saw Tyme. "Tyme! You have to help!" he said, looking back down at Atherin. Tyme just glared at Raven and before Raven could say anything else he found himself pinned to a tree. He was momentarily confused as to what had happened, until he found himself face to face with a pair of angry cold lavender-blue eyes. Raven stared at Tyme at shock. "Tyme, what are you doing?! We have to help Atherin!" he shouted, trying to struggle free.

Tyme narrowed his eyes at Raven. He was pissed at him for hurting his brother. He didn't even want to listen to what Raven had to say. Raven gritted his teeth, Tyme's claws digging into him slightly. "Tyme, why are you doing this?! Rabe hurt Atherin, not me!" he shouted, still struggling. "Why would he go after Atherin when _I_ was the one that killed his mate?" Tyme hissed out. "...." Raven didn't know what to say. He honestly didn't know why Rabe had gone after Atherin. "I... I'm not sure..." Tyme growled. He was losing his patience with Raven. He had half a mind to kill him himself and then make Atherin drink his blood to reverse the effects of the silver.

Raven was starting to panic. Tyme didn't believe him and was blaming him for Atherin's condition. Suddenly an idea struck him. "Tyme! Rabe attacked Atherin and me! See!" he said, motioning to his scratched side. Even though Atherin had tried to heal them, the marks were still clearly evident. "Rabe tackled me into the pond!" he added, looking over at the still slight-crimson water. Those claw marks looked like they could have belonged to Atherin... And the blood in the pond could have been when Atherin tackled him into the pond. Both boys still had damp clothes. Tyme wasn't buying that story either.

Raven was getting scared. "Why don't you believe me, Tyme!" he cried, "You know I'd never hurt Atherin!" Tyme growled again. He was getting fed up with Raven, and listening to these stories wasn't helping Atherin's condition any. He pulled Raven forward a little before slamming him back into the tree, nearly knocking Raven unconscious. Raven cried out in pain, but went limp in Tyme's hold. He was barely conscious, but aware enough to hear. His eyes were closed, and he was dizzy and disoriented.

Tyme, none so gently, dragged Raven over to where Atherin was. It was hard to see his brother in that condition, but he was going to reverse it. He knelt down in front of him, after having let go of Raven. He gently put him into a sitting position, trying to ignore the whimpers of pain that came from Atherin. This was why most vampires never survived getting silver in their system....they just couldn't move with out causing themselves an immense amount of pain. Raven tried to move, but found he couldn't. He realized he was on the ground now, but he didn't know what was going on.

Tyme made sure that Atherin wouldn't fall back to the ground. He pulled Raven closer to where Atherin was sitting, trying to get him to 'feed'. Raven groaned weakly, the movement hurting. He tried to open his eyes, but he still couldn't. When Tyme saw that Atherin wasn't making any move toward 'feeding', he tried to figure out what was wrong with him. He took some time looking for a reason why Atherin wasn't doing what he wanted him to, not knowing that Atherin couldn't see and didn't want to 'feed' off Raven without his consent. Raven managed to move a little, opening his eyes for a brief second. He couldn't tell what was going on; his thoughts still a jumbled mess from the blow.

After a moment of noticing that Raven wasn't talking or anything, Atherin thought that Tyme had actually killed Raven. He started to panic, which was not good in his state. Tyme just couldn't understand why Atherin was refusing to 'feed'. Raven tried again to move, but he still didn't have the strength. He still didn't know what Tyme was trying to do... Atherin was still refusing his brother's request of 'feeding' off Raven. Tyme wasn't happy with that answer and so pulled Raven a little closer to where he was sitting. Raven groaned and tried to struggle when Tyme did that, his injured side paining him greatly. He opened his eyes again for a moment or two, trying to figure out what Tyme was trying to do.

Tyme held Raven still, not wanting him to move as he tried, once again, to get Atherin to 'feed'. "Come on Atherin. You'll die if you don't 'feed'..." Raven's heart skipped a beat. Tyme was trying to get Atherin to 'feed' off him, when he couldn't even defend himself. Raven started struggling, trying to get free. Tyme notice Raven trying to get free and that made him angry. He decided that he would silence Raven for good, but Atherin stopped him. That confused Tyme, but he still didn't let go of Raven. "Let me go, Tyme!" Raven shouted, still trying to get free. He wanted to help Atherin, but Tyme was making it difficult.

Tyme was reluctant, but he let Raven go, pulling him into a sitting position before he shoved him closer to where Atherin was sitting. Raven looked over at Tyme. "What was that for?!" he said, narrowing his eyes at him. Tyme only glared at him. His eyes turned red briefly, before they returned to the cold lavender-blue. Raven shied away from his gaze slightly. He didn't know why Tyme didn't believe him, or why he had pushed him.

Tyme growled again, but it was more directed at Atherin for not 'feeding' than anything. "Come on Atherin, 'eat'." He tried again, shoving Raven closer. Raven's eyes widened. He wanted Atherin to 'eat' him?! He staggered to his feet, panicking. Tyme pulled him back down and was going to make sure he didn't try that again. However, before he could do so, Atherin's condition took a turn for the worse, and drew his attention back to his younger brother. Raven turned around and looked at Atherin. He ignored Tyme for a moment, more concerned with Atherin.

Atherin's breathing was worsening and his blood had congealed even more. It felt like his heart would burst because it was trying to pump so hard. Raven completely ignored Tyme. "Atherin... c'mon... you have to 'feed' off me..." he said, knowing it was the only thing that would keep him from dying. Atherin looked over to where he guessed Raven was. He knew that he needed blood, and soon, but he was afraid that in his panic he might drain Raven dry. Judging from Tyme's abrupt change in behavior that he couldn't place, he wouldn't stop it. Raven sighed. "Atherin... come on..." he said, worried.

Atherin continued to stare blankly at him with dull eyes. It hurt him to move, but he shakily reached out with his hand, trying to find where Raven was. Raven moved over beside him, so he could reach him easier. For some reason Atherin wasn't reacting to him well, so he light tapped his shoulder, so he knew he was beside him. Atherin let his arm fall, and he 'looked' to where Raven was beside him. He was waiting for Raven to tell him that it was alright, but he didn't know if Raven knew where he had to bite to reverse the silver that was in his system.

"Atherin, its okay if you 'feed' off me..." Raven said, knowing what Atherin had to do, even if it scared him. Atherin nodded weakly. However, as he couldn't see where Raven was exactly he couldn't really _do_ anything. Raven didn't understand why Atherin hadn't made a move to bite him yet. "Atherin? Why haven't you started? Is something wrong?" he asked. "....I...c-can't...s-see..." Atherin answered quietly. "Oh..." Raven said. He reached out and guided Atherin's hand up to his neck. "Better?"

Atherin nodded weakly again. He didn't like doing this, especially when he couldn't see. He took a moment to locate a safe place where he could bite, using two fingers to pinpoint where he would bite. He shifted a little, even if it did cause him pain, as he tried to get into a better position. He could feel Raven's heart starting to pick up and that in turn made him nervous. After a few moments more of hesitation did Atherin finally draw closer to Raven's neck. He didn't remove his fingers until he finally bit down. Raven forced himself to stay calm, knowing it wouldn't do either of them any good. He was scared, but he did his best to hide it. He knew Atherin needed it or he'd die.

Atherin knew that Raven was scared. It made him nervous as well, but he resisted the urge to bite harder. It was an instinct to do so if he felt that his 'victim' was going to try and escape. He knew that Raven would have to stop him...lease he really try to drain him dry. Raven struggled to keep calm, even though he knew Atherin wouldn't hurt him. He could feel himself getting weaker with each swallow Atherin took, but he knew his friend needed it badly. He wouldn't stop him until it was absolutely necessary. Atherin continued to drink. He could feel his blood starting to thin and his heart starting to pump a little easier. His wound wasn't healing though. It would take a while for a silver inflicted wound to heal. Raven still didn't stop Atherin, even though he was starting to get dizzy. He had finally calmed down, now sure Atherin and Tyme wouldn't hurt him... for the moment... Atherin was faintly aware of the fact that Raven was getting light headed. However, at the moment, he was making no moves to stop himself.

Raven could barely sit up now, Atherin had taken too much. He was light-headed and dizzy, and felt extremely weak. "A-Atherin..." he said, lightly tapping his shoulder. If Atherin took much more, he'd lose consciousness... Atherin let go when Raven tapped his shoulder. He was still in pain and his vision was just starting to return. He could make out blurry shapes, but nothing more than that. Tyme wasn't too pleased that Atherin had listened to Raven and had stopped. He still didn't understand what had happened. He couldn't see why Rabe would just leave Atherin with only a cut and not instantly kill him, let alone go after him in the first place.

Raven's head was down, his eyes closed, weakened severely by the loss of blood. He was glad Atherin was somewhat better, but he knew he'd have to let Atherin 'feed' off him again. Tyme got up from where he was sitting. He walked over to where Raven was sitting and jerked him into standing up. Atherin couldn't make out the fast moving blurry images, and so didn't know what was going on exactly. Raven stared at Tyme in fear. "Tyme, what are you doing?!" he asked, trying to get free.

Atherin tried as hard as he could to focus on what was happening. He knew that Tyme would hurt him if he didn't something. "T-Tyme! L-Let...him g-go..." Atherin said as he tried to stand up. Tyme gave an exasperated sigh, but let go of Raven. Raven turned away from Tyme and back to Atherin. "Atherin... don't move around..." he said, pushing him back down lightly and sitting down beside him.

Atherin didn't try to fight against him. Tyme narrowed his eyes at Raven, but decided to leave. He didn't go too far though, just far enough that neither of the teens felt too threatened with him being there. Raven looked over at Atherin. "Are you feeling b-better?" he asked. "I'm...s-still in p-pain...but....I think....I'll m-make it...." Atherin answered. Raven nodded. "Good... you had me r-really worried, Dracula..." "I was...w-worried m-myself.... I th-thought I w-was g-gonna die.... B-But...w-why did T-Tyme try to...h-hurt you...?" Raven looked down slightly. "He... he thought I was the o-one that h-hurt you..." he said quietly.

That didn't really make any sense to Atherin. He tried to think about why Tyme would think that Raven had hurt him. Well...his knife had been used to cause this wound.... He could try and piece it together, but he was too tired at the moment to do so. He was still having troubles breathing as some of his blood was still congealed, but at least it had stopped and not spread. "...I'm s-sorry... f-for his b-behavior..." "It's not your fault A-Atherin..." Raven said quietly. He was still extremely weak from the loss of blood.

Atherin tried to focus his vision better, but he couldn't. He wanted to 'seal' the puncture wounds he had made so then they wouldn't get infected or Raven ended up killing himself on accident. He knew Raven still had a bad habit of ghosting his hand over the wounds. Raven looked over at Atherin. He got a little nervous when he saw him looking at his neck. "Are you... looking for something?" He asked. "...The...p-puncture...w-wounds.... I c-can't f-find them.... D-Don't want you...t-to a-accid-dently....ag-rivate...them...." Raven shook his head 'no'. "No Atherin... I'll be f-fine..." he said, "... you need to s-save your strength..." Atherin didn't try to argue against him. He just wanted to go to a nice, dark, cool place to keep calm and start to heal. His room was the best place for that as he could control how warm it was.

Raven didn't like being out in the open, when Rabe could easily attack again. "Atherin, d-do you want to g-go back inside?" he asked. Atherin nodded weakly at Raven's suggestion. He knew he was extremely vulnerable right now. He tried to get back up, but it hurt him a lot. Raven helped Atherin up, trying to be as gentle as he could so not to cause him too much pain.

Atherin cringed in pain, even though Raven was trying to be careful. He knew that it'd be an extremely painful walk back to his room. He wasn't going to stay in the medical facility this time. Tyme had disappeared inside Horai by they time he and Raven had started their way to Horai. Raven helped Atherin back to his room. It was slow going, but he didn't want to force Atherin to go any faster with silver still in his system. Atherin nearly collapsed onto his bed. That walk had exhausted him. His breathing was labored again and he bled the whole way back. It was still just a slow, oozing bleed as that was where the silver was most concentrated.

"I'll be r-right back Atherin..." Raven said, turning and leaving him. He walked back to the medical room, grabbing a roll of gauze and some medical tape. He put some gauze on his neck before he left, walking back to Atherin's room to wrap up his wounds. While Raven was gone Atherin had decided to make things a little easier to wrap his wounds up. He knew where Raven had gone. He undid his scarf and took off his mesh shirt. It caused him pain, but he knew just about anything he'd do would cause him that. Raven walked over to Atherin's bed and sat down beside him. He started to wrap up the worst of his wounds, trying to be as gentle as he possibly could. Atherin tried not to move too much, nor let Raven how much it hurt. He just wanted him to finish so then the pain could start to alleviate. Raven finished quickly. He had wrapped up all of Atherin's serious wounds. "Alright... I'm done Atherin..." "T-Thanks... ...I'm...g-gonna r-rest now...." Atherin said as his exhaustion took over. He gently laid down and was asleep before Raven had even left his room. Raven got up and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. He started to head back to the garden, having forgotten his silver knife by the pond.

Before Raven could make it to the garden he was suddenly and very abruptly pulled into one of the rooms that lined the hallway. He was flung into the room, but didn't hit anything. He tried to get his sense of balance back before he heard the ominous locking of the door behind him. Raven managed to regain his balance, although he was a little uneasy on his feet still from the blood loss. It was dark, so he couldn't really see who grabbed him due to his spinning vision. A light was dimmed on. It was just bright enough for Raven to see in. The person who had locked him in here had yet to say anything or make another move toward him. All the color drained from Raven's face, recognizing Tyme. After what happened earlier, he was afraid Tyme was going to hurt him.

Tyme didn't move from his spot in front of the door. He was glaring at Raven and had a look of utter hate written on his features. This was a side of Tyme that Raven didn't think he even had. It was silent for a moment before Tyme decided to speak. "You're extremely lucky that you're Atherin's friend, or I'd kill you in a heartbeat." Raven swallowed hard and stepped back, terrified. He honestly thought Tyme was going to hurt him. Tyme saw this in Raven's eyes. "I'm not going to hurt you, human. But you, and every one else on this Zoid are really lucky. I detest humans, and the only reason I've been so kind and friendly to you all is solely for Atherin's sake. How the boy has been able to keep any sort of compassion for you creatures is beyond me." It looked like Tyme had been waiting to say this for some time now... Raven blinked and swallowed again. He shook a little, completely terrified.

Tyme was silent. He vanished in front of Raven's eyes and the next thing he knew he was once again pinned to the wall. He could feel Tyme's hot breath on his neck before he whispered something to him. "I have half a mind to finish what Atherin started." Raven had to stop himself from struggling. He was terrified, honestly thinking Tyme was going to kill him. This was his worst nightmare; one of them wanting to consciously bite and kill him... Tyme let go of him and backed off. He still had a look of deep loathing on his features. Raven faintly heard the click of the door unlocking, but before Tyme exited he spoke one more time. "When Atherin wakes up tell him that I am no longer here. I don't care if you tell him what I told you, but as far as I'm concerned I can not stay here any longer and pretend to like any of you any more." And with that he vanished.

Raven immediately checked his throat, making sure Tyme hadn't bitten him. When he didn't find any wounds, he calmed down slightly. He hurried went to the garden and retrieved his silver knife, not wanting to get attacked by Rabe...or Tyme. He went back to Atherin's room out of habit, instead of going to the medical room. Atherin woke up when he heard his door open. Even with his blurred vision he could tell that something was wrong with the black blur that was Raven. He sat up slightly, trying not to do anything that would cause him any more pain. He wasn't sure if asking 'what's wrong?' right at the moment was a good idea. Raven looked over when he saw Atherin sit up. He didn't say anything, Tyme's words still repeating over and over in his mind. When Raven didn't ask if he was 'okay' that worried him. "Raven...? Wh-What's...w-wrong?" Raven looked at him and blinked. He didn't respond, still terrified.

Atherin tried to sit up more, but that ended up bringing him a lot of pain. He grabbed his wounded chest lightly, gritting his teeth, before he turned back to ask Raven again. "C-Come on...R-Raven... P-Please t-tell m-me...?" "T-Tyme..." Raven said quietly, bringing his legs up to his chest.

Atherin blinked. Had Tyme threatened Raven when he left to go get something? That didn't sit well with him. He tried to mentally contact his brother to ask what he had done but....received nothing...not even white noise... It was just like...when he had thought that he was dead... Tyme...wasn't here any more that much he knew. "W-What...h-happened...?" Atherin asked quietly...a little hurt that his own brother refused to even speak with him now. "H-he... told me what he t-thought... and..." Raven hesitated, not sure how Atherin would take the next part, "... t-then he... h-he pinned me... and... a-and nearly... bit me..."

".....He....what....? B-But why...? W-Why would he d-do so-something like t-that...?" Atherin asked, more to himself that to Raven. Raven could hear the hurt in his voice, probably because of the thought that his brother had betrayed his trust. "H-he said something about h-him... hating humans a-and that... the only reason I wasn't d-dead was b-because I was... your friend...." Atherin was silent, trying to take this all in. On top of the fact that he had nearly died, his own brother threatened his best friend...and had...lied to him....

Raven lowered his gaze from Atherin. He subconsciously put his hand on his neck where Tyme had nearly bitten him. He was still scared about how close he had just come to being killed… Atherin didn't know what to say....nor did he think he had a voice to say anything with. It felt like the piece of hope that Tyme had brought to him when he found out that he was alive just...died... He felt even more alone now than when he thought he was the only one left alive. Raven couldn't stop thinking about what had just happened. Tyme had nearly bitten him, and had threatened to kill him. He had never seen Tyme like that before, and he knew he would never be able to trust him again.

Atherin was thinking along the same lines as Raven was. He'd never be able to trust Tyme again for doing what he did. As far as he was concerned now, Tyme wasn't his brother. His family was the people here....but a sudden horrible thought crossed his mind... What if...they abandoned him as well because of this incident? He tensed at the thought. It would mean that he would be back to square one...and he feared that he wouldn't be able to get passed that square... Raven rubbed at his neck again. He could almost feel Tyme's breath on his throat; he shivered slightly at the thought of just how close he had just come to dying.

Even through Atherin's blurry vision he could see how scared Tyme had made him. He couldn't say that he wasn't afraid as well... "...Raven...?" Raven didn't say anything, his hand still on his neck. He was shaking slightly, terrified still of the recent events. Atherin didn't like the fact that Raven wouldn't answer him either, or the fact that he was touching the puncture wounds again. He was close enough to him that he could reach over and pull his hand away. And he did just that, but it wasn't with a lot of force...

Raven jumped when Atherin touched him, nearly falling out of his chair. He started shaking more, trying to get away or at least out of Atherin's reach, but he couldn't move much due to being on the chair. Atherin withdrew his hand immediately. That hurt him greatly. Had he already been abandoned by his 'new' family? Or had he just been deceiving himself the entire time? Raven drew his legs closer to his chest, lowering his head. He tried to protect his neck, but there wasn't much he could really do.

"....Do you....r-really fear me that much...?" Atherin asked quietly. Raven shook his head no. "No... N-not you..." he said quietly, "I'm a-afraid of... what T-Tyme nearly... did..." Atherin lowered his blurred gaze. He was now really starting to hurt and not just from his physical wounds... He knew that Raven was scared to let him near his neck and now thanks to what Tyme had done, he feared that Raven would be afraid of him 'feeding' off him again. He didn't want to worry anyone else with his condition as he knew no one else would be too willing to let him near... Raven lifted his gaze slightly, and noticed the expression on Atherin's face. "Atherin? Are y-you... alright?"

"....Y-You're n-not....g-gonna abandon m-me too.....a-are you...?" The vampire asked quietly and hesitantly. Raven looked at Atherin oddly. "No... I'm n-not..." he answered quietly. Raven was lucky that Atherin couldn't see clearly, other wise he'd be thinking that Raven was just saying that. "I...I don't...w-wanna be...alone again..." Atherin said quietly. He couldn't help but say things that were on his mind right now. His mind was trying to pick up the shattered pieces that had just been broken. He needed to be reassured of things, just for his own peace of mind. Raven looked up at Atherin. "Don't w-worry Atherin... you w-won't be alone again..." he tried to reassure him.

That calmed him down some. He didn't think his heart could take another betrayal again. He still couldn't believe that Tyme had threatened to kill his friend and had basically told him that he wants nothing more to do with him by closing his mind to him. It hurt to have his only living blood relative do that to him. Raven sighed, unsure of what to do. Before he could think of anything, the door was flung open, Shadow running in. She stomped over and licked Atherin, wagging her tail. Avea followed after her in her true form, dragging Ligie behind her.

"H-Hey Sh-Shadow...and....A-Avea...." Atherin said quietly. He had lain back down on his bed, no longer able to keep himself propped up. Shadow continued to lick Atherin, purring quietly. Avea crawled up onto the bed and nuzzled his arm in concern. "...I-I'll be...f-fine you...t-two.... J-Just n-need some.....r-est...."

Shadow nodded and wandered over to Raven. She immediately didn't like the punctures on his neck, but she didn't make it known. Avea stood on the bed beside Atherin, whining quietly. She knew what was wrong with him, and it worried her. Atherin lifted his hand a little too pet Avea to keep her calm. He could guess that Shadow wasn't too happy at the moment with him, but right now, he just couldn't be bothered with it. Her being mad at him wasn't something else that he needed to weigh heavy on his mind. Avea purred and nuzzled his hand, wagging her tail. Shadow resisted the urge to lick at Raven's wound, and instead nuzzled him and licked his hair.

Atherin continued to pet Avea until he couldn't hold his hand up any more. He was starting to feel too warm, and, while that may be good for most creatures, it wasn't for Atherin. ".....H-Hey...Raven...? Co-uld you t-turn the therm-ostat....d-down...?" Raven nodded and got up. He turned down the thermostat a few degrees before he sat back down. Avea curled up beside Atherin, laying her head lightly on his shoulder. ".....W-What're...we g-gonna t-tell the...o-others?" Raven blinked. "The truth... R-Rabe attacked us... and u-used silver on you…" "...I...m-meant a-about....T-Tyme...." Atherin said quietly. "He l-left... that's all t-they need to know..." Atherin nodded. He didn't want to go too deep into detail about why he suddenly decided to leave. Raven shuddered slightly, remembering what Tyme had nearly done to him.

"....I....c-can't a-apologize...en-ough to....you for w-what he....did...." Raven sighed. "It wasn't your fault, A-Atherin...." "....B-But it f-eels like it is.... If I h-had been....p-paying a-attention, ins-tead of s-leeping....th-is could...have b-been avoided.... A-And I c-could have...ca-ught on to...his t-true f-feelings....s-sooner..." Atherin replied quietly with a little difficulty. "Well... I should have t-tried to explain what happened b-better... maybe that would have at least h-helped..." Raven said. "...I d-doubt it.... E-Even if it h-had...it w-wouldn't have...changed his m-mind....." Atherin replied. "But I don't understand... if I had really... hurt you... why w-would I ask him for help? Shouldn't t-that of said something?" Raven asked. "....T-To an...angry v-vampire....it d-doesn't matter.... I'm s-sure that....he only....saw y-your knife covered in my b-blood and j-just....lost it...." Raven nodded. "I c-can't blame him, t-though..."

"....A-And c-coupled w-with what....hap-pened to the...vill-age....I should have seen....this coming...." Atherin replied quietly, just about mentally beating himself up over this. "Atherin... it w-wasn't your fault..." Raven said. "......B-But I....still f-feel responsible...." The vampire replied quietly. "You shouldn't... it w-wasn't your fault in t-the slightest..." Atherin sighed. It sure felt like his fault. "....As...f-far as...I'm...c-concerned....he's....not my b-brother any...longer...." Raven sighed as well. "You can't s-stop being his b-brother... Atherin..." "...I k-know... B-But....he's al-ready t-thinking the s-same th-thing about me... I...can't get any...mental c-contact with him....wh-which....is l-like being....d-disowned...in h-human terms..." "Oh..." Raven said quietly. He didn't know it was that bad. "I'm sorry I c-caused all this..."

"....It's...n-not y-your f-fault... It's...m-mine... I'm t-the one t-that chose t-to....l-live with h-humans....in-stead of...b-being on the...p-path of....g-genocide." Atherin said. Raven looked over at him. "Well... T-Tyme should have r-respected your d-decision..." "...I t-think he...t-tried to.... B-But....there are...some other f-factors....that made him....u-unable to..." Atherin replied. "What were t-those?"

"....Y-You already...k-know t-that most of it....w-was influenced because of...the vill-age....b-but...I also think....t-that he c-couldn't be-because of me... Y-You see.... I was...su-suppose to...be on...the f-front lines too.... B-But mom said 'n-no'.... D-Dad w-wasn't too happy w-with that and...T-Tyme wasn't either....as I...later f-found out... I wouldn't...have b-been able to do any thing...anyways... I was h-hardly any s-stronger than a...h-human child...but... I guess it w-was just b-because of m-my fire ability...and the f-fact that I'm s-supposed to be a 'Berserker'." Atherin explained. "I'm s-sorry, Atherin..." Raven said.

"...You d-don't...need to f-feel 'sorry' a-about it... Its s-something t-that....c-can't be changed." Atherin replied. Raven nodded slowly, before he got back up. "I'll be b-back in a moment..." he said, leaving before Atherin could say otherwise. Atherin sighed. He wasn't tired that he needed sleep. He was just tired, period. He hoped that Raven returned soon...as much as Shadow and Avea kept him company, he wanted 'human' contact at the moment... Raven came back after about ten minutes. He closed the door behind him and sat back down in 'his' chair.

Atherin looked over to where Raven was. "...W-Where'd...you g-go...?" "I took some of Ibeyla's medicine... to h-help with the blood loss..." Raven answered. "...You should have....s-stopped me sooner t-than....when you h-had...." Raven shook his head 'no'. "You needed it... and I'm okay now..." "....You...didn't n-need to let me take s-so much....that y-you nearly....p-passed out though..." Atherin argued. "Again, it's okay... I was w-worried about you and wanted to get rid of as much s-silver as I could...." Raven replied.

"...T-There's still some si-silver in me...m-mostly concentrated near the w-wound... I don't...t-think....I'll n-need to take a-any more.....after t-the next time....you let me.... ....A-And....i-if you d-don't want to....I c-can always...go into...t-town..." Raven shook his head. "You're not going anywhere in your condition..." he said. "....B-But....I d-don't...want...to....t-take from you...if y-you're uncomfortable....w-with it...." Atherin said.

Raven shook his head. "It's okay..." he said quietly. "....I'll...be able to l-last....a few d-days before it becomes...p-problematic....again.... S-So...y-you don't have to give m-me any tomorrow..." Atherin replied.

Raven nodded. "The medicine will replenish my blood in a few hours... so w-whenever the silver acts up, I'll be ready..." Atherin nodded. He'd be glad to get the silver out of his system as soon as possible. However, he wanted the wounds on Raven's neck to heal before he bit him again. Raven reached over and stroked Shadow. She purred and licked him, and for once allowed Shadow to groom him. Avea squeaked and nuzzled Atherin's arm, purring softly. Atherin gently caressed Avea, before his gaze went over to the corner of 'his' room. Raven looked up, seeing Atherin's movement. "Something wrong?"

Atherin didn't get a chance to answer Raven. Before he could protest, whatever he was looking at decided that it wanted on his bed as well. Raven could see Atherin's bed sink due to the additional weight of the now identified Azel. Avea squeaked in fear, clinging to Atherin's arm. She didn't know what was going on. Atherin tried to get Avea to calm down before he turned to Azel. "A-Azel...y-you're too b-big... G-Get off!" And as he expected, Azel didn't. Raven couldn't help but snicker at him. Avea had crawled up onto his shoulder, trying to hide from whatever was there. Even though Azel was invisible he could still be heard. He was clicking rapidly and in worry at Atherin. "...I'll be al-right...Azel..." He tried to placate his Organoid. Avea tried to find Azel, unable to see him. He had yet to see Atherin's Organoid since she had arrived.

Azel barely noticed the hatchling on his partner's shoulder. He was too worried about Atherin's condition to do so at the moment. Atherin, however, knew that Avea had yet to meet Azel and now was as good a time as ever. "...Azel...? You can...b-become v-visible again...." More clicks were heard before Azel revealed himself. He was curled behind Atherin protectively...after all...the ocean blue Organoid considered Atherin 'his' hatchling. Avea chirped and jumped onto Azel's shoulder, looking at him curiously.

Azel turned to look at the hatchling on him. He clicked a little at her, it wasn't threatening, but it was a little curious. After looking her over, did he turn back to Atherin....and started to groom him. It didn't bother Atherin in the slightest though. Avea jumped down to the floor, after dragging Ligie off Atherin's bed. She knew Atherin just needed rest, and teleported away. Raven looked over at Azel grooming Atherin. Shadow had stopped licking him and had laid her head on his lap. "You f-feeling any better?"

"...A little.... I'm still in pain...and it's still a little hard to breathe... And my heart's still is pumping a little too hard for my liking though..." Atherin answered. "Okay... but you aren't in danger of d-dying, right?" Raven asked. "...I'm n-not gonna d-die....right now at least... B-But....if I don't get...b-blood within...two days my....condition will go back to w-where it was earlier.... And I'll....n-need twice as m-much blood....to g-get back to this condition...." Raven nodded. "Just let me know when you need more blood..." Atherin nodded. He wouldn't keep quiet if he needed blood. He didn't want to jeopardize either of their health's...

Raven went back to stroking Shadow. She was nosing at his injured side, licking the wound to occupy herself. Raven for once let her do what she liked, not really bothered by it this time. Atherin had soon fallen asleep, which prompted Raven to let him get his rest. He went back to the medical facility to just sleep there. Evening soon came and went, the night moving by quickly. Morning was soon upon them once again.

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_**Author's Note:**_ *laughs nervously* Well…at least I didn't kill Atherin, so be happy about that! I promise that there's a reason why everything happens! I swear!! Anyways, apart from the betrayal, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Please Review!!


	35. Theories

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do __**NOT**__ own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul, Rika, Avea, Serrer and Libelle do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME **__as do the towns Redai and Jurei._

_**Author's Note:**_ Hey everyone! I know this is a bit of a late update but at least it's up. Work cut into my time this past week as well as me not feeling so well. I know this chapter is short, but a little breather was needed for the characters ^^; Anyways, I hope that you all like this chapter!

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me. We that those of you that reviewed!!

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Ͽ Theories Ͼ

Raven woke up at about nine in the morning. Ibeyla's medicine had fully healed the minor wounds he had sustained and the blood loss, so he was back to his normal self. Shadow was still asleep, curled around Avea. He quietly got up, not disturbing them. He went to check on Atherin, knocking quietly on the door. "Hey Dracula, you up?" All he received was a muffled groan and a whirlwind of clicks. Well...at least he had woken one of them up... Raven knocked again. "Atherin? You alright?" he asked again, opening the door and walking in, shutting it behind him out of habit.

It was dark inside Atherin's room, as Raven thought it would be. It was also much, much colder than when he had left it last night. He looked to where the bed was and saw glowing lavender eyes looking at him... But...as both Atherin and Azel had glowing lavender eyes, he couldn't be too sure which one was looking at him. Raven blinked. "Atherin? You awake?" he asked again, not sure if he was looking at Azel or Atherin's glowing eyes. Another muffled groan, before another pair of glowing lavender eyes revealed themselves. It was...kind of scary to Raven, who wasn't use to seeing such things.

Raven blinked again. He wasn't used to seeing glowing eyes. "Atherin?" he asked, looking between the two pairs of eyes. "...Hmm? W-What...is it....?" Atherin asked sleepily. "I was gonna ask if you were up, but that's pretty obvious..." Raven said, "How are you feeling?" He asked. "...B-Better... But...I don't th-think I'll....be moving....t-too much today..." Atherin answered.

Raven reached over and tried to find the light switch. After a few minutes of stumbling around and cursing, he found the switch and turned on the lights just bright enough for him to see. Atherin resisted the urge to hiss at the sudden brightness of 'his' room. He was a recovering vampire, the dark was his friend. He raised his hand slightly to shield his sensitive eyes from the light. He knew that Raven had only turned them on so he could see. He'd live with it...but if he tried to turn the thermostat up then there would be problems. Raven looked over when he saw Atherin do that. "Sorry Atherin..." he said. "...It's...alright.... You could have turned them....all the way on...but I'm t-thankful that you...d-didn't... I wouldn't have been...too happy..." Atherin replied. "I didn't think you would, which is why I didn't..." Raven said, "I liked my room dark when I wasn't feeling well, I guessed you were the same way..." "...I like it....dark...even wh-when I am...feeling well... I am...a c-creature of the....n-night...." Atherin replied. Raven rolled his eyes. "Should have seen that coming..." he muttered to himself, sitting down on the chair.

Atherin wanted to chuckle, but he knew that it'd hurt him to do that. He was glad that Raven didn't seem to mind how cold it was in 'his' room. It was probably a good twenty-five degrees colder in here than out there. Raven wrapped his arms around himself and started shivering. "Helkat Atherin... why's it so damn c-cold in here..." he complained, "I can almost s-see my breath!" "...D-Deal with...it... If...it's...t-too warm...my strength...g-gets sapped.... And in...my condition if that where to...happen....I c-could very well...d-die..." Atherin replied. Raven rolled his eyes. "You'll l-live..." he muttered. Atherin tugged at his blanket, it had been kicked down to his waist. He pulled it out of its place and then threw it over Raven's head. "Th-There...now s-stop complaining..." Raven wrapped himself in the blanket. "Thanks..." he said, not shivering anymore.

Atherin only nodded. The effort of tugging and throwing the blanket had hurt him more than he thought it would. "...Is there any other...r-reason w-why you d-decided to w-wake me?" He asked. "I just wanted to check up on you..." Raven answered. "I'm not accusing you of w-waking me just for the hell...of it... I...was just wondering...if the others....had g-gotten suspicious...." Atherin said. Raven shook his head 'no'. "I just wanted to make sure you were still alright... besides, I already told the others; they just haven't come to see you because I told them you need your rest to heal..." He said. "...Th-Thanks.... I...m-maybe...a social creature....but in this condition...the more people in this....small room the edgier I...get..." Atherin replied. "I figured..." Raven said, "That's why I told them to let you be until you were better..."

Atherin sighed quietly. He knew that since Raven had taken the medicine that Ibeyla makes he was in a good enough condition for him to bite again. And as much as he wanted to get the silver out of his system, he also didn't want to scare Raven like Tyme had. Raven looked over when he heard Atherin sigh. "Something wrong, Dracula?" he asked, not knowing what was wrong with his friend.

"...Do I...really need to tell...you what's wrong...?" Atherin asked quietly. He didn't know how to just tell him that he wanted to clear the remaining silver from his system without sounding....barbaric... Or scaring him.... Raven blinked and thought for a moment. He knew what Atherin meant, even if the thought still scared him. "....I won't take...unless....you're....okay with it...." Atherin replied quietly when he got no response from Raven. "I'm okay with it, Atherin..." Raven reassured him, "I know you need it..." After some help from Azel was Atherin able to sit up. After a few clicks, did Azel leave, worm holing his way out and back to the hanger. Raven got out of the blanket and walked over to Atherin's bed, sitting down beside him. Atherin shifted himself again to get into a better position. He could actually see today which made things a whole lot easier for him.

Raven took a deep breath to try and keep himself calm. After nearly getting attacked by Tyme the yesterday, he was nervous about letting Atherin bite his neck. But he knew Atherin needed it. He closed his eyes, waiting for him to bite... Atherin hesitated, not liking how nervous Raven was of letting him bite. He was afraid that Raven would pull back, which would cause his instincts to take over...which wouldn't be good for either of them... After another few seconds did Atherin get close to Raven's neck again and bit down...trying not to cause any pain or panic to him.

Raven cringed slightly, but didn't move. He knew him panicking wouldn't do any for either of them. He forced himself to keep from struggling, knowing it would only make things worse. Atherin continued to drink. He could feel his pain lessening and his blood thinning the rest of the way. He could also feel what remaining silver that was in his system clearing up. Raven was slowly getting weaker as Atherin continued to drink his blood. But he didn't make any moves to stop him. He knew Atherin needed it badly. He wouldn't stop him until he absolutely had too. Atherin was slightly aware of the fact that Raven was getting weaker, but once again, he wasn't making any moves to stop himself. He knew that the silver would be cleared from his system, but it'd take a while for the gash to actually heal... No amount of blood or sugar would make it 'seal' any faster. Raven was starting to feel dizzy, but he didn't stop Atherin. He was weakening further with every swallow of blood Atherin took from him, but he still had some strength left...

For some reason or other Atherin stopped on his own. Raven couldn't understand why. He hadn't said anything and was still willing to let Atherin 'feed' a little more. Raven looked over at Atherin. "What's wrong? Why'd you stop?" he asked, confused on why he had released him. "....Your blood...clotted...." Atherin answered. Raven blinked. "What?" he asked, not understanding why that had happened. Atherin didn't know why Raven's blood had clotted either. Humans were such fickle things. Not even their blood flow was constant all the time. "...I don't know....the reason either but....it's not...life threatening...." Atherin replied. Raven blinked. "Strange... that's never happened before..." he muttered.

While Raven was trying to figure why his blood had clotted, Atherin was seeing how many more times he'd have to bite Raven's neck. He knew that he still had some silver in his system, but it wasn't as concentrated nor as potent as it had been. His breathing was still a little difficult and his heart was still pumping a tad bit harder than what he was use to. All in all he figured that he'd only have to bite him one more time to clear it all from his system. "Are you feeling better, Atherin?" Raven asked.

Atherin nodded. "Yeah.... Though....there's still...a little bit of silver left in my system.... If your blood hadn't of clotted it would have been fully cleared..." He answered. Raven sighed. "That's okay... I'll be able to let you 'feed' off me a little bit later, after I take some of Ibeyla's medicine..." He said. "...It doesn't have to be later today.... I know you get really scared when ever I get close to your neck..." Atherin replied. "It's only because whenever you made a shot at my neck before this, it was your intent to kill me. And now with that incident with Tyme, I'm just a little uneasy..." "...I understand... I know I haven't given you the best of impression when it came to biting your neck..." The vampire replied quietly. "It wasn't your fault any of the times you tried to bite me..." Raven tried to reassure. "...But still....they made a lasting impression..." Raven nodded slightly. He couldn't deny that...

Before Atherin could say something again, Azel reappeared...right on the bed...causing it to groan and sink even more with all the weight it was trying to hold. Neither Atherin nor Raven could move. Atherin really couldn't and Azel sort of had Raven pinned. He didn't care though. He clicked happily before nuzzling and licking both boys, regardless of Raven's protests and attempts to get free. Raven tried to get free, but Azel had him pinned. "Azel! Let me up!" he shouted, trying to get up.

All Raven received was a whirlwind of clicks as Azel nuzzled him more. Atherin chuckled at him the best that he could at his situation. His Organoid was lying on top of Raven and reaching over to him to groom his hair and click at him. "....Sorry Raven.... Azel probably sees you as one of his 'hatchlings' now... You're just gonna have to get use to it..." Raven glared at Atherin. "You aren't funny, Dracula..." he growled, "Now get him off me!!"

Atherin shrugged. He wasn't trying to be funny. He was telling Raven what Azel was saying to him. "...Come on Azel...let him up...." Azel looked over to Atherin for a few moments...before going back to what he was doing.... He'd let Raven up when he was done. Raven glared at Atherin. He wasn't even going to try and fight against Azel. "...Why're you glaring at me? I told him to let you up... This is what he did to me...when I tried to get him to let me up.... It's why I learned to not struggle against him any more..." Atherin said. Azel continued grooming Raven, ignoring what they were talking about. Raven rolled his eyes. "Yeah sure..." he muttered, trying to ignore Azel. Azel clicked at him some more before letting Raven up. He nuzzled him some before turning to Atherin and nuzzling him. He was glad that he was doing better. Raven sighed. "Glad that's over..." he groaned. Atherin sighed, leaning back against Azel. Azel could still reach Raven so he was still nuzzling him as well.

A few minutes later, there was a quiet knock on the door. "Atherin? Raven?" Ibeyla asked, "You guys in there?" Atherin looked to the door. "...Yeah... We're here..."

Ibeyla opened the door and walked in. "You feeling better Atherin?" she asked as she shut the door, sitting down in the chair Raven had used earlier. "...Yeah...I'm feeling better... I'm still in pain, but I'll live..." Atherin reassured her. "That's good..." she said, handing Raven the small flask of medicine. He took a few sips unhappily, but soon was feeling better. He handed it back to Ibeyla, and she put it back in her pocket. "When will you be healed?" she asked Atherin. "...There's still some silver left in me... Just...one more....'session' and it'll be clear.... However....this gash will take some time to heal..." Ibeyla nodded. "I figured it would..." she said, "My best friend Strake, his little brother Scott was a vampire. He accidently cut himself on silver, and it took him a couple weeks to heal..."

Atherin nodded. He knew that it'd take a while for his wound to heal fully. He doubted he'd be able to walk for another day or two. Azel started clicking again before going back to nuzzling and licking Atherin and Raven, and now Ibeyla as she was now there. Ibeyla giggled, letting Azel do what he wanted. It didn't bother her at all, and honestly she enjoyed it. Azel continued on. He was curled around Atherin, but he had his tail around Raven, keeping him still. He clicked happily, licking and nuzzling Ibeyla more as she giggled. Ibeyla patted his muzzle gently, smiling as he licked and nuzzled her. Raven merely tolerated having Azel's tail around him, not trying to get free.

Atherin was getting tired again. But as his bed was occupied by his Organoid and Raven, he really couldn't just lay back down and go back to sleep. Oh well...he'd improvise... He turned slightly and pulled his pillow over to him, resting it on Azel before he leaned back again. He yawned before placing his feet over Raven's lap. He wasn't going to let his friend keep him from resting, and as Azel wouldn't let him go, he'd just have to deal with it. Raven looked over at Atherin. "Do you mind?" he growled in annoyance, not liking being used as a pillow. Atherin cracked open an eye to look at Raven. He crossed one leg over the other, still using Raven as a human pillow. "Nope." He said before closing his eye again. Raven glared at him. "I have half a mind to shove you off, but I'll stop myself..." he muttered, before Ibeyla handed him the blanket, seeing him start to shiver.

Atherin just ignored him. He was too tired to argue with him at the moment. He was starting to feel hot again, but he wouldn't turn the thermostat down any more. It would pass shortly before he'd become comfortable again. Azel was still paying attention to Ibeyla, every now and then tightening his tail around Raven and then relaxing it, just to make sure that he was still there. Ibeyla continued stroking Azel, scratching him behind his crest. Raven just glared at Atherin for a moment. He wasn't very happy at the moment.

Atherin was already asleep by the time Raven glared at him. He didn't even know he had drifted off. Azel was cooing at Ibeyla, but aware of the fact that Atherin had fallen back asleep. He growled quietly before he finally released Raven. After Azel released him and Atherin had fallen asleep, Raven decided to get up. He careful got up without moving Atherin too much, and stood beside Ibeyla. "C'mon Raven, let him get some rest..." Ibeyla said, getting up and opening the door. Raven nodded and followed her out, shutting the door and turning the lights completely off.

A couple of hours later had passed. It was now around four p.m., and Atherin was still sleeping. Azel was being a dutiful partner and didn't leave his side at all. He nitpicked at the blanket every now and then as well as groomed Atherin, but other than that he was watching over him; ready to get someone at the drop of a hat should something bad and unseen happen. Raven walked to Atherin's room. He'd been asleep a few hours, and he wanted to check up on him. "Hey Dracula, you up?" he asked, knocking on the door. A fury of clicks drowned out most of what Atherin replied but Raven thought he said something along the lines of '...do you want me to be...?' Raven opened the door. "I can't hear you over that dolphin of an Organoid..." he said, shutting the door behind him.

Atherin only mumbled something incomprehensible. Again, because it was so dark, Raven could only see one set of glowing lavender eyes looking at him. He could hear Azel clicking at him again, but other than that, couldn't tell who he was looking at. Raven turned the lights on just bright enough for him to see. "Is that you, Dracula? Or Flipper?" Atherin shifted away from the bright light. His eyes were still closed, so that only left Azel. Azel, for his part, reached over and started to lick and nuzzle Raven again. Raven tried to push Azel away. "Leave me alone Azel..." he groaned.

That wasn't happening anytime soon. Azel continued to lick him, purring and clicking all the while. Atherin had learned to ignore Azel when he got like this and so wasn't bothered by it at all. Raven wasn't going to have any of it. He kept trying to push Azel away, not wanting to get licked, again. Azel wasn't too happy with that, but backed off, not wanting to make Raven too mad. He snorted at him, totally messing up his hair, and ensuring the fact that Shadow would try to groom it back into place later. Atherin shifted back around and looked around with glazed over eyes. "....You just checkin' in on me again...?" Raven nodded. "Yeah... you were out for a good while..." he said.

"...Mmm... I could probably sleep for the rest of the day...and well into tomorrow..." Atherin yawned, trying not to stretch out so he wouldn't cause any pain to himself. "Well, I doubt you'd be able to with Flipper over there clicking at everything..." Raven said, indicating Azel, "And, do you need anything?" He asked. "...Azel only clicks when someone he knows comes to the room... If it was someone that wanted to cause me harm he'd be silent and attack them before they set foot in here.... He's just happy to see you is all..." Atherin explained. "...And...I am getting a little hungry... Perhaps an apple or some strawberries would keep me satisfied..." Raven nodded and left the room. He returned in few minutes with a couple apples. "Here you go Dracula..." he said, handing the apples to him.

"...Thanks..." Atherin replied as he bit into one of the apples. Raven took a moment to wonder why Atherin wasn't chewing....until he figured out that he was draining the apple of its juices... Raven sat down on the chair, pushing Azel's head away when he made another go at him. Azel huffed again, further messing up Raven's hair. He was dooming him to Shadow's grooming at this rate. Atherin soon finished his apple; it looked like he hadn't even touched it except a few seconds later it proofed into dust... And then he started on a second one. Raven shoved Azel away. "Leave me alone, Flipper...." he groaned, shaking his head to try and get his hair back to normal.

Azel waited for Raven to finish before he snorted at him again. Raven wasn't getting out of here with normal hair. Atherin ignored his Organoid's antics, and just continued to drain his apples. Raven glared at Azel. "Stop it Flipper..." he growled, pushing him away again. Azel just clicked rapidly at him. If he was going to be given that nickname then he'd live up to it. Atherin finished his apples and watched on, in amusement, at Raven arguing with his Organoid. Raven glared at Atherin. "Will you make him stop?" he said, trying to shove Azel away again. "Azel, come on... That's enough now..." Azel stopped what he was doing but he still kept an eye on Raven. He laid back down, clicking quietly.

Raven looked over at Atherin. "Thanks Dracula..." he said, shaking his head to get his hair at least somewhat back to normal. Shadow was going to get him no matter what though. "So... is my blood helping to get rid of the silver alright?" He asked. "...Yeah... It's helping getting rid of it... Why...?" "Just curious is all..." Raven answered. "...Why so curious all of a sudden? So long as its helping shouldn't that be all that matters?" Atherin asked. Raven nodded. "I know... but I can be a little curious, can't I?" he shot back, smirking.

Atherin narrowed his eyes at Raven. He was planning something that much he knew. "I never said that you couldn't be curious about it, but you've never shown an interest before..." Raven rolled his eyes. "So I'm a little curious about it? That doesn't mean I'm planning anything..." Atherin looked at him a little skeptically, but dropped it. He wasn't in the best of conditions to argue with him too much. "...But why the sudden interest?" Raven shrugged. "I don't know..." He replied. "...That's not very....calming.... I don't know what it is you're so interested in and at the moment I'm not too sure I want to find out..." Atherin sighed. "Well... I just remembered you saying my blood was different or something and I was just curious if that made it better or worse for helping you with the silver..." Raven said. "...Your blood's really sweet, not different. So in actuality, it helps get rid of the silver a lot quicker..." The vampire replied.

Raven blinked. "I still don't have a clue why my blood is so sweet to you vampires... but at least it explains why I keep getting bitten..." "I can't answer that either. There are theories about why some blood tastes different, but they're just that. Theories." Atherin replied. "Theories? What kind of theories?" Raven asked.

"There's one that says what humans eat in their diet affect how their blood tastes...but if that was true...then your blood would hardly have any taste at all... And there's another that says it depends on the heart of the person... If they're a truly good person it makes their blood sickeningly sweet, but if they're awful deep down their blood tastes bitter..." Raven stared at him. "Well... I'm positive the second one isn't true... and I don't think that first one sounds any better...."

"...You don't think you're a good person?" Atherin asked. "Well... I haven't exactly been a nice person..." Raven said. "Nice and good are too separate things..." The vampire pointed out. "Well... after Prozen took me in, I killed lots of Zoids and sometimes their pilots, so I doubt I have a 'good heart'...." Raven replied. "....Do you feel guilty about what you've done sometimes? I've killed a lot more people than you ever will... Does that mean that I don't have a 'good heart' either?" Atherin asked. "Well... the first few times I killed I did feel guilty, but after that I got used to it..." Raven said. "...But you still feel guilty sometimes...don't you?" Atherin asked again. "... Sometimes... but I haven't killed any Zoids or anyone in the last few months..." Raven replied.

"....Then let me ask you this... Do you actually enjoy killing?" Atherin asked suddenly. Raven blinked. He had never thought about that before. "No... I don't... not anymore, at least..." He replied. "Then I don't see why you don't consider your self a good person.... You feel guilty from what you've done before and would rather not do it again unless it's absolutely necessary... You may not be out there....'volumeteering?' but that doesn't automatically make you a bad person." Atherin said. Raven blinked. "You mean volunteering, right?" He asked. "Whatever... You get my point." Atherin replied. Raven nodded. "I guess you're right..."

Atherin noticed Raven's expression after what they had just talked about. "Oh, 'lighten up' will ya? You're 'good' to me...I think that your blood proves that." Atherin said, smirking slightly. Raven rolled his eyes. "I don't need to lighten up... you're the one sitting in a dark room all day..." Raven shot back, smirking. "Mmm...and that's how I'd prefer it." Atherin replied as he stretched out slightly, trying not to bother his wound.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Well... a _little_ time in the sun wouldn't kill you..." "There's a possibility that it could." Atherin replied, smirking a little. "No it wouldn't... you've been out in the sun a lot..." Raven said. "Yeah, when I at least am at half of my strength... But at the moment....that's a different story." Atherin pointed out. Raven rolled his eyes. "Well, when you're better, you're getting out in the sun for awhile..." "Yeah, yeah... I hear ya 'mom'." Atherin replied, smirking slightly. "Oh shut up Dracula..." Raven said, rolling his eyes again. Atherin chuckled at Raven. He was unable to come back with something like he did back in Jurei. Raven sighed. "When do you think you'll be back to full strength?"

"....Umm.... The gash is pretty bad...so....I think it won't heal for about two or more weeks.... And then it'll take a day or two for me to get back at full strength...." Atherin replied quietly. Raven nodded. "As long as Rabe stays away, we should be fine..." He said. "Yeah... If he thinks that I'm dead...there's a good chance that he'll stay away... As I'm sure he thinks that you, Ibeyla and Karl will be easy to take out..." Atherin said. Raven rolled his eyes. "Easy? I won't just let him kill me..." "I'm not trying to be sarcastic. I'm just telling you what I think..." Atherin defended.

"Yeah well... I still just won't let him attack me... after all; I went easy on you last time you tried to get me..." Raven joked slightly. "I don't even remember 'last time'. So how does that count?" Atherin asked. Raven rolled his eyes. "I still held back..." Atherin just sighed, shaking his head at Raven. "Just keep telling yourself that Raven..." Raven narrowed his eyes at Atherin. "Don't start with me, Dracula..." Atherin chuckled. "Chill... I don't want to argue about this subject..."

Raven sighed and looked over at Atherin. "Why didn't you just eat those apples? Instead of biting them?" He asked, slightly curious as to why the vampire would do that. "I did eat them! Just....not how you humans do..." Atherin replied. "It didn't _look_ like you ate them to me..." Raven said. "But I did! I 'ate' them. Apples are one of the only fruits that I can 'eat' like that..." Atherin defended. Raven rolled his eyes. "Yeah well... you better not eat apples like that in public..." "I don't. But as you all know what I am, I see no problem with it." The vampire replied. "Yeah... well... it's still weird..." "Oh well... I can't change my eating habits...too much... I've already done a lot to try not to stand out too much..." Atherin said, remembering what he had to change to try and 'fit in'. "Like what?" Raven asked.

"Apart from the differences in cultures, I've had to change what I wear, get rid of a number of accessories and weapons, and make sure that my eyes don't glow and that my fangs and claws are put away all the time..." Atherin answered. There were some other things as well, but he didn't feel like listing them all. "Yeah...because if your glowing eyes freak me out, imagine what it would do to someone who wasn't expecting it..." Raven said, smirking. "So I've already found out..." Atherin sighed. "Way to go, Dracula..." Raven said his smirk widening.

"I couldn't help it... I didn't know how to make it disappear....even at night sometimes...it just...happens... Especially when I'm hurt like this..." Atherin replied. "Well considering every time I've come to see you your eyes were glowing, I sorta figured that..." Atherin chuckled at him before growling tired again. He yawned slightly, trying not to stretch to worsen his wound. About half an hour later and he as out like a light again. When Raven saw this he got up, opened the door and turned the light of to let him rest and recover.

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_**Author's Note:**_ At least Atherin's feeling a little better and he and Raven are joking with each other again. I know this chapter was more filler than anything, but hey, a nice slow chapter with no one getting mauled is a nice change of pace! Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed reading it!! Please Review!!


	36. Girl Talk and Guy Talk

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do __**NOT**__ own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul, Rika, Avea, Serrer and Libelle do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME**__ as do the towns Redai and Jurei._

_**Author's Note:**_ Sorry for the late update everyone. Work's been more than a little hectic as of late. Coupled with my lack of energy due to having to open 11 days in a row and my GM suddenly quitting….everyone's schedule is AWOL. Anyways, I hope this chapter makes up for the lateness ^^;

Guide:

[talking]-Vampire language. To save myself and Ibeyla some time, as well as save my neck and eyes from looking at the sheet, from now on all the vampiric language will be written like this!

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me. We thank those of you that Reviewed!!

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Ͽ Girl Talk and Guy Talk Ͼ

A few days had passed since Rabe had nearly killed Atherin. He had once again 'fed' off of Raven thus clearing the silver from his system. Now all that he to do was rest and recover himself...which meant he had hardly left his room all too much. He had started to venture out of it, but never left his room for too long. Currently, however, he was out and resting in the living room with an ice pack on him to keep as cool as possible. Raven walked out into the living room and sat down on the couch opposite Atherin. "You seem to be feeling better Dracula..." Raven said, lying down on the couch, tired.

Atherin looked over to Raven. "I do feel better, but I wish that this wound would heal already..." Atherin complained. "....Why're you so tired?" Raven looked over. "Even with Ibeyla's medicine, the constant blood loss recently has weakened me a bit..." he said, "... I should be better in a couple of days..." He explained. "...Sorry.... You didn't need to let me take so much the last time..." Atherin said quietly. Raven shook his head. "It's alright... I'll live, don't worry..." Atherin sighed quietly; "I know...but I still feel bad taking so much from you..."

Raven rolled his eyes. "I told you, its fine..." he sighed, "Lighten up, will ya?" he said, throwing a pillow at him. "I am 'lightening up'. I'm out here aren't I?" Atherin asked backed. Raven glared at him. "Shut it Dracula..." Atherin only chuckled at him, keeping the pillow for himself. "I'm only repeating what you told me." Raven rolled his eyes, before he looked around. "Hey, where's Flipper?" "With Eiji... Now that there's no risk of me dying in my sleep he can go back to making sure that Eiji doesn't do anything too...destructive...." Atherin answered. "That's good... Donnie would have both our hides if that psycho three-year-old of a Zoid destroyed anything..." Raven teased slightly. "He can't help it... After being frozen for who knows how long and only having a year of freedom, Eiji doesn't like to stay cooped up in one place for too long... I've already gotten a few mental messages about him getting rusty or growing old by just sitting here..." Raven sighed. "I don't understand how you and that Liger put up with each other; you're nothing alike..." "What's that one phrase you humans use? 'Opposites attract?'" Atherin asked, managing to get the expression right this time. Raven nodded. "Yeah... but still..." "I wouldn't change his personality for the world though..." Atherin said quietly.

"Yeah, until he destroys something important..." Raven muttered. Ibeyla walked in a few minutes later, holding the flask of medicine. "Raven... you need to go to Alca and get me some Ruby-Sapphire Lilies to make more medicine, and some Aluru root for Atherin..." she said, handing him a small pouch of gold. "...Aluru root...? I thought that was a rare plant root due to over use...? Is it finally being monitored?" Atherin asked, immediately knowing what Ibeyla was talking about.

Ibeyla looked over at him. "Well, around here there are small pockets of it. It's still pretty rare. I have a few plants growing back at the base, but I hardly ever bring some with me. That's why I need Raven to buy some." She explained. "Figured that they were still really rare... Had I of known that there were some in the area I'd have told you about them sooner..." Atherin sighed. "It's alright Atherin. I'll make some medicine for you from it when Raven gets back, okay?" Ibeyla asked. Atherin nodded before turning to Raven. "Have fun!" Raven glared at him. "Shut it Dracula...." he growled, "If you weren't half dead, I'd be dragging you along too..." He 'threatened'. "You wouldn't have to drag me with you. I'd be happy to go along. I like crowds, even if I don't know the people." Atherin shot back.

Raven rolled his eyes before he got up. "I'll be back in about an hour. If I'm much longer than that, Rabe got me..." he said, before he went to the hanger. Shadow was there waiting for him. He fused with her and flew down to Alca. They soon landed and Shadow released Raven. Shadow hid in an alleyway while Raven walked to the flower and herb shop, and looked for the flowers and herbs Ibeyla wanted. He soon found the Lilies she wanted, but he couldn't find the root. He walked up to the store owner and paid for the flowers. "Do you have any Aluru root?"

A young girl of seventeen was milling around the flower shop. She wore an aqua short sleeved shirt with a gold breastplate along with a white skirt that stopped just above her knees while her black boots stopped a little before them. She had waist length ebony hair that was streaked with an aqua blue. Her eyes were of the same aqua blue which contrasted with her skin color drastically. Right now, she was looking for some herbs, flowers and roots to make her medicine. She registered the fact that some one else entered the flower shop as well and was a little startled to see such a darkly dressed _boy_ enter the bright shop. She ignored him and continued picking out what she needed, just thinking that he was...rather odd... However, when he asked the store clerk for Aluru root, did she become interested. "What do you need the Aluru root for dearie?" the elderly woman that was at the counter asked the boy.

"My friend was badly injured in an...accident, and he needs medicine made from Aluru root...." Raven answered, not wanting to say what really happened. "Alright, dearie, just wait right there, and I'll get it for you." The caretaker replied as she went to a back room. The teen girl had taken an interest in the odd boy and somehow knew that there was more to his story. She went to the counter as well, trying to decide how she should approach him about what he was buying.

Raven glanced over at the girl that had been in the shop. He had to look again to make sure he wasn't seeing things. She looked a little like Atherin, which struck him as strange. The girl caught his second glance at her. She turned toward him and confronted him about it. It was also a good way to start a conversation with him. "You got something to say to me, Sweetheart? I saw you take another look at me." Raven blinked. That statement shocked him more than a little bit. "You just looked a little like my friend is all..." he answered truthfully.

"Your friend? The one you're getting the Aluru root for?" She asked curiously. Raven nodded. He didn't want to say much more than that. "What's the matter Sweetheart? Helkat got your tongue?" She asked when she didn't get a reply. Raven blinked. He wasn't sure what to say or how to react. He just wished the store owner would hurry back.

Raven's wish was granted. The store owner returned a few minutes later, but when she saw the girl standing beside Raven, she...completely forgot about him. "Ryoko dear! It's so good to see you again! It's been a while since you last visited. How have you been?" "I've been good Granny. It's a little lonely and I miss my brothers, but I'm doing alright..."

Raven turned to the girl. "Wait... Ryoko? _You're_ Ryoko?" he said, clearly shocked. "Yeah... You got a problem with that?" She asked back. Raven didn't know how she'd take this, but he'd give it a shot. "Your brothers... their names are Tyme and Atherin, right?" Ryoko was shocked for a moment, before she was completely overcome with joy. "You know them!? Do you really know them!? Where are they!?" Raven nodded. "Yeah... Atherin is my friend..." he answered, "He's with my brother and my friends right now..."

Ryoko looked about ready to cry from hearing this news. She had thought both of them had been killed. In one quick motion, making sure to put the flowers down on the table, did Ryoko bear hugged Raven. She was just so happy to know that her youngest brother was nearby; she just needed to hug something... And as Raven was the 'something' closest to her…he would just have to do. Raven, needless to say, was taken completely by surprise. He wasn't use to vampire hugs, and he doubted he ever would be. Ryoko didn't let him out of her hug....not until she remembered that this boy was buying Aluru root. She let him go, but worry was now etched on her face. "He's the one that's hurt isn't he? Will you tell me what happened?" She asked. Raven nodded slowly. "I'll tell you when I'm done here..."

Ryoko nodded, understanding that the flower shop wasn't the best place to tell her what happened. Granny collected the money Raven owed for the Aluru root and then tended to Ryoko's needs. After everything had been bought Ryoko followed Raven out of the store, patiently waiting for them to get to a more secluded spot for him to tell her what happened to her little brother. Raven led Ryoko back to Shadow. She was curled up in an ally, and lifted her head upon sensing Raven. She got up and walked over to him, but stopped upon seeing Ryoko. She cocked her head and growled at her curiously, nosing her shoulder and sniffing her.

"Hello to you to....Shadow..." Ryoko said as she held her hand out for the Organoid to show that she wasn't a threat. Shadow cocked her head again and sniffed her hand. After concluding she wasn't a threat, she nosed her hand and licked her, wagging her tail. Ryoko giggled. "She's awfully friendly isn't she, Raven?" "Not normally... but I think she knows you're related to Atherin, and knows you aren't a threat..." Raven answered. "That's a relief... But...are you gonna tell me about what happened to my brother?"

Raven nodded. "Atherin and I were... attacked by a Vareix Organoid, named Rabe. You see, Tyme killed his mate Rika, and he was after revenge. He attacked us, and nearly knocked me unconscious. He then... injured Atherin with silver..." Ryoko's color drained from her face. So her fears about him being hurt with silver were true. "I can guess from the Aluru root that he's not in danger from dying..." She said quietly. Raven nodded. "No, all the silver's out of his system..." he reassured her.

Ryoko nodded before a look of determination came to her face. She hit her fist to her hand before declaring; "It's settled then. I'm going back with you." "I figured you would..." Raven said, "You'll have to ride on Shadow's back thou-" he stopped suddenly and turned to her. "Hey, how did you know Shadow's name? I never told you..." Ryoko giggled again. "It's quite easy really. I'm a 'Manipulator', or in your human language a Mind Reader. I read Shadow's mind to get your names." Raven blinked. "Okay... just please stay out of my head..." he said, before turning back to Shadow. "Don't worry. I don't like to use it on allies." She reassured Raven, waiting for when she'd be able to get back to her little brother. Raven nodded. He fused to Shadow, and Shadow lowered to the ground for Ryoko to get on. The vampiress got on Shadow's back and waited for her to take off. Shadow unfurled wings and flew up into the air. She kept her pace slower than normal, so not to put too much stress on Ryoko. They soon reached Horai and Shadow let Ryoko off, she then released Raven, and Ryoko waited for him to take her to her brother.

Raven first found Ibeyla and gave her the flowers and the Aluru root, along with the extra gold before introducing her to Atherin's sister. From the look of it, the girls would get along just fine. The Ancient Zoidian took the flowers back to the kitchen, where she'd make her medicine out of them. Raven then walked down the hall towards the living room, but stopped Ryoko before they entered. "Wait here...." he said quietly, before walking into the room and over to Atherin. "Hey Dracula I'm back..."

Atherin looked up to Raven and gave him a confused look. Was he..._smiling_!? "....What happened to you? I don't think I've _ever_ seen you lookin' like this before." "I have a surprise for you..." Raven said, still smiling. Atherin just raised an eyebrow at him. He knew that Raven wasn't _that_ nice that he'd willingly get him something. He was a little worried about what Raven had in store for him....and that smile was starting to scare him too... "....And what, may I ask, is this surprise?" "Not what, WHO..." Raven corrected, before he turned. "Okay, you can come in now..." he said to Ryoko.

Atherin sat up, not knowing what Raven was planning. However, as he saw who rounded the corner, he stood up slowly, not believing what he was seeing. "....Ryoko..." She just smiled and was to him, and hugging him in a blink of an eye. He always was closer to her because of their ages, but at the moment, he was speechless and shocked. Raven sat down on the couch, Shadow plodding over to him. He stroked her, letting Ryoko and Atherin catch up.

Ryoko finally let go of Atherin, and after re-establishing their mental connection with each started to catch up... Not that Raven could understand what they were saying as both were speaking rapidly in their native language. Raven continued stroking Shadow, letting them talk uninterrupted…

After the two talked with each other some one question that was bothering Atherin finally came up. He needed to know what had happened and why his sister was still alive… He knew that she had been killed that day…

[…Ryoko….I'm glad that you're alive, believe me, but…how? You were…] He started off. His sister sighed quietly. [I can't lie to you Atherin, but…I'm not quite sure how… All I remember is waking up in this strange base like place…and then escaping from it because the last that I could remember was trying to protect you… I never went back to Jurei though… I stopped outside of the gates and could tell that it would break me if I went back in…] She replied. She didn't understand how she had come back either, but there had to have been a reason as to why she brought back… […It doesn't matter how Ryoko… I'm just glad that you're alive and well.] Atherin said when he saw his sister's expression, Ryoko nodded, glad that she was back with her brother again.

After about an hour talking to each other were they all caught up, Atherin turned to Raven, him having been there the entire time. "...Thanks for bringing her here...Raven... I don't know how to thank you enough..." "No problem..." Raven said, "Honestly, she said she was coming with me no matter what, so I didn't have much of a choice in the matter..." he joked. Both siblings chuckled at him. "You got that right." They said in unison. Raven had to remember that Ryoko was older than Atherin with the way they acted.

Raven rolled his eyes, until he heard footsteps coming from down the hall. He turned to look and saw Donnie walking into the hall. He immediately stopped when he saw Ryoko. "Oh, I didn't know you two had company..." he said, "Might I ask your name?" he asked Ryoko.

Ryoko and Atherin looked over to Donnie when he entered. Ryoko blinked. "There're two of them? That's so cool!" Ryoko said completely forgetting to answer Donnie's question. Donnie blinked. "Well... we are twins..." he said. Raven sighed. "Her name's Ryoko, Donnie. She's Atherin's sister..." he clarified for his twin. Ryoko giggled again, before saying something that turned both twins red with embarrassment. "They're so cute too!" Raven rolled his eyes and groaned. Donnie just looked at her and blinked. Both didn't say anything, more than a little shocked.

Atherin was staying out of this. He knew that he wouldn't be able to stop her anyways. Ryoko got up and went over to Donnie. She gave him a sweet smile before pulling him into a hug, though not a bear hug like Raven received. She was a 'cuddly' vampire and liked contact. Donnie was, needless to say, a little surprised. Raven sighed and leaned back into the couch. He wasn't looking forward to being constantly hugged, and he was sure Donnie wasn't either.

Ryoko soon let go of Donnie. She didn't care that he was uncomfortable with it. She chuckled at his shocked expression before going back and sitting down beside Atherin. A sudden realization sudden came across Atherin's mind. "...Uhm...Raven...? What exactly are we gonna do with two sets of fangs to feed?" Raven looked over at Atherin. "I never thought about that..." he said, "... well, you can still 'feed' off me, but for Ryoko...." he trailed off, deep in thought, "Maybe Donnie could let her..." he said, turning to Donnie. Donnie looked really nervous. "I'll have to think about it... after hearing what happened with Tyme, I'm a little nervous..." he said.

Both vampires nodded. They knew that they were asking a lot from Donnie. "Donnie, if you don't want to let me, it's alright. I understand that Tyme betrayed everyone's trust. I won't ask you or anyone else if they're uncomfortable with it." She reassured him. "I could try to 'feed' both of you if it comes to that. Ibeyla is making more of her medicine, so I should be alright..." Raven said. Atherin shook his head 'no'. "That wouldn't be good for your health if you were to do that Raven." Atherin said. "I've been fine the last couple of days helping you get rid of the silver..." Raven said, "... and it wouldn't be forever, just until Donnie warms up to the idea...." "But in your condition 'feeding' both of us wouldn't be wise." Atherin replied. "I told you, I'll be fine in a day or two..." Raven sighed. "I still don't think letting both of us 'feed' off you is wise." Raven rolled his eyes. "I'll be fine..." he said.

Atherin sighed, knowing that Raven wouldn't budge from his decision. He leaned back against the couch, knowing that it was pointless to argue with him any more. Raven reached over and stroked Shadow. She started purring, licking his hand. Donnie was sitting beside Raven and Shadow now, not wanting to stand the whole time. Ryoko soon started up another conversation with her brother. But neither twin could understand them. Raven guessed that it was easier for them to speak to each other like that. Raven and Donnie both started petting Shadow to occupy them. She purred loudly, enjoying the attention she was getting.

The vampire siblings continued their conversation, however, when Donnie's name was mentioned did they start to wonder what they were talking about. Well, for one thing, Atherin didn't look too comfortable talking about this, but it seemed that Ryoko had his ear and continued to talk to him. Donnie was getting a little nervous. He didn't like how they were talking, probably about him and his brother, when he couldn't understand them. After talking a little bit more to her brother did Ryoko get up. "I think I'm going to go find Ibeyla to talk with her. Have fun you guys!" She said, waving as she left. Atherin sighed, relieved that she was going to talk to someone else about this.

Ibeyla was busy making her signature medicine, extracting the nectar of the Ruby-Sapphire Lily, pouring it into her small flask. Ryoko soon found her in the kitchen. She watched her for a moment, before speaking up. Mind if I help you Ibeyla?" Ibeyla looked up. "Oh, hi Ryoko!" she said, "And of course I don't mind, matter of fact, I could use a little help with the Aluru root..." Ryoko nodded and brought some of the Aluru root to her to start making the paste that was needed to help Atherin's wounds. She giggled suddenly, remembering how uncomfortable Atherin was when talking just a little bit go. "It's times like that that I wish I had a sister to talk to." She said more to herself than to Ibeyla. Ibeyla giggled slightly. "I used to think the same thing. My little brother Locke hated to listen to me when I talked about 'girl' things..." she said, smirking slightly.

"Poor Atherin. He almost turned beet red from embarrassment. But as we're close to each other we don't keep secrets from each other. I know he doesn't like to listen to me either...especially when Raven and Donnie are right there." Ryoko giggled harder. Ibeyla nodded. "Well, you don't have to 'torture' poor Atherin with your 'girl' talk; you could always talk to me..." She said. "I didn't mean to 'torture' him. It's just that I haven't seen him for so long I just wanted to talk to him... Even if it is 'girl' talk." Ryoko replied.

"I don't blame you at all..." Ibeyla said, pouring more of the nectar into her flask, "And I'm sure Atherin was happy to talk to you, even if it was 'girl' talk..." Ryoko nodded. "He was happy, but I'm not mean enough to intentionally 'torture' him... I guess I'll talk to him about something else later..." Ryoko mused as she started to get the Aluru paste where it was suppose to be and properly store it. "I bet he was happy... but if he ever doesn't want to have 'girl' talk, you could always talk with me, only if you want, that is..." "Of course! What brother wants to hear their sister talk about their friends?" Ryoko giggled again.

Ibeyla laughed. "Yeah, I ran into that problem with my little brother. I used to have 'girl' talk instead with my best friend Taska, and sometimes I even convinced Talon to listen to me, even though he was a boy..." "Atherin always listened to me when I wanted to talk. Even 'girl' talk...but at that time he still didn't really understand it and so didn't mind it as much. And if he was busy doing something else I'd talk to my best friend Yuli."

Ibeyla nodded. "I always talked to my friends about 'girl' stuff..." she said, pouring the nectar of another lily into her flask. Ryoko giggled again. "I can only imagine what Raven and Donnie are trying to get out of him." She said, finishing some of the Aluru paste and storing it in a gourd like container. Ibeyla giggled. "You mean Raven is trying to get out of him. Donnie isn't one to pry..." "Well I just met the both of them just a few hours ago. I didn't know they had completely different personalities...." Ryoko said quietly, thinking about something. Ibeyla snickered. "You have no idea..." she said, "Even though they're twins, they're completely different..."

Ryoko laughed lightly. "Then they certainly aren't like...them...then." Ibeyla nodded. She assumed she was talking about one of her friends. "It's really funny... Donnie and Raven are almost complete opposites in every way. It's a wonder they can stand each other..." Ryoko laughed again. "I guess it is funny. From what I could tell Donnie's shyer than anything and Raven's more outspoken. I think they're both cute though. I know Atherin just had to of loved when I said that out loud." She giggled again. Ibeyla giggled. "Yeah you're right. Donnie is really shy. Raven is a lot braver than he is which is why he's such a good pilot..."

Ryoko giggled harder. It was nice to actually talk about these kinds of things with another girl. "Say Ibeyla..." Ryoko said with a mischievous glint in her eye, "...which one of the boys out there do you think is cute?" Ibeyla giggled. "Raven..." she said. Ryoko giggled with her. "He's oblivious to it isn't he?" Ibeyla nodded. "But we're just friends or more like brother and sister..." Ryoko nodded too. "I understand that. Who would you answer if I asked you who you had a crush on?" She giggled again as Ibeyla turned slightly red. Ibeyla sighed. ".... Raven...." "Don't worry Ibeyla. Girl's honor. I won't say a word."

"Thanks..." Ibeyla said, "Now, do you have a crush on anyone?" She asked. "I think Donnie's cute, but I don't have a crush at the moment. After all, I did just meet them not too long ago." Ryoko replied. Ibeyla nodded. "Maybe after being around him a bit, you'll get a crush on him..." Ryoko giggled again. "Perhaps." She said with a mischievous smile. Ibeyla giggled. "After he calms down a bit, of course; He's still a little on edge with all the recent happenings..." She said. "I know he is. I don't want him to fear me or my brother with everything that's been going on." The vampiress replied. "Don't worry; he isn't afraid of Atherin anymore. I'm sure after a few days he'll warm up to you too..." Ryoko nodded. "That's good to hear. I was afraid that he'd leave a bad impression on Donnie... He has the tendency to do that sometimes..." She sighed. "He did at first, but since Raven trusts him, he's starting to trust him more and more..." Ibeyla responded.

Ryoko nodded. "That's good. But enough of this depressing matter! We gotta talk about girly things! You know, you're the first girl around my age that I've spoken to in five years! I have a lot of gossiping to catch up on!" Ibeyla giggled. "Same here. The last girl I talked to was1st Lt. Hartreigel, and she wasn't the most talkative of people..." Ryoko giggled. "I usually only talked to Granny at the flower shop that I met Raven at. She's a nice old lady, but I hardly go into town."

Ibeyla nodded. "That sounds like me. I used to talk to a woman back at my old town my brother and I called Granny. She was an herbal expert, and taught me all I know about medicine..." "I learned my medicine from my mother and father. Since I can't heal, I had to learn other ways to do so." Ryoko said. Ibeyla nodded. "I can't heal well either... but, that's why my best friend Talon carved me this..." she said, taking off her necklace and showing it to Ryoko, "... this is Red Magnite, it can heal not only Zoids and Organoids, but also people. It helps heighten my limited healing abilities too..." Ryoko looked at the Red Magnite in Ibeyla's hand. "It's really pretty, and really helpful too!"

Ibeyla nodded. "Yeah, my best friend Talon found a small shard of it. Back in Zoidian times, this stuff was worth more than its weight in gold. Now, it's priceless. It seems most of it was destroyed by the Death Saurer. I've never found any more of it..." "That's too bad. I wouldn't mind having something like that to help me with my 'healing'." Ryoko replied. "Well, if I ever find some, I'll be sure to give it to you!" Ibeyla said. "Thanks Ibeyla!" Ryoko said, continuing making some of her medicine. Ibeyla nodded, and poured the nectar of the last lily into her flask, going back to her medicine making.

Meanwhile….

Atherin sighed when Ryoko went to go talk to Ibeyla about who knows what. He was glad that she had gone to someone else to talk to about her....girly things... Raven looked over at Atherin. "What were you two talking about, anyway?" he asked. Donnie wasn't paying much attention, stroking Shadow's muzzle, which was making her purr. Atherin blushed slightly, he should have known better than to think he'd be able to get out of this. "N-Nothin' important..." He stuttered slightly. "You've got to work on your lying, Dracula..." Raven said, knowing he was hiding something.

Atherin's gaze looked away from Raven. He knew he was a bad liar, but he didn't like to tell his sister's...secrets... Raven blinked. "I know you're hiding something Dracula..." he said, "Spill it..." Atherin shook his head 'no'. "I can't.... It's...a...private conversation...." Raven rolled his eyes. "It's not like I'm going to go tell everyone..." "Still doesn't matter.... She trusted me to keep it quiet..." Atherin replied. Raven sighed. "Yeah? I told that to my sister Silvia all the time, and I still ended up spilling it sometime or another..."

Atherin still didn't look at Raven. He wasn't sure if Raven's sister ever made him listen to....girly...things... Especially when talking about his friends. Raven was getting annoyed. "Oh come on Dracula! Just spill it!" ".....Well she....she....she likes....one of you....a lot..." Atherin replied quietly. Both Donnie and Raven got a little red. "What?! She just met us!!" Raven said. "....That's what I told her... ...But....she still...talked...about it...." Atherin replied.

Raven blinked. "Is she always like this?" "Like what?" Atherin asked. "Her personality..." Raven replied. Atherin sighed. "Yeah...she's usually like this...." "Great... and I thought you were a handful..." Raven groaned. "But at least I don't talk to you about....these...kind of things..." Atherin said, blushing slightly again. "You have no idea how glad I am about that..." Raven said. "Me too... But it still doesn't mean that Ryoko won't talk to me about this again..." Atherin said. "Well... maybe she can talk with Ibeyla about that stuff instead of you..." Raven suggested. "That...scares me a little... It means both of them are talking about who knows what about us..." Atherin replied.

Raven groaned and leaned his head back against the couch. Donnie got a little red again. "I'm scared to even think about what they're talking about..." Raven muttered. Atherin sighed. He was scared too... Two teenage females talking about boys and other girly things wasn't something he really wanted to think about…

A few minutes later, Karl walked into the living area. He stopped, seeing the looks on everyone's faces. "Is there... something wrong?" he asked. "....There was some....'talk'....about us...." Atherin answered. Karl blinked. "Who was talking about you?" he asked. "....My...sister...." The vampire replied. Karl blinked in surprise. "Your sister? But I thought you and Tyme were the only ones still... around…"

"So did I... But it seems that Raven met her in town when he went to get some things for Ibeyla..." Atherin replied. Karl turned to Raven. "What is it with you and attracting vampires..." he sighed, ".... anyway, where is she?" "She's with Ibeyla. They should be in the kitchen making medicine..." Atherin answered.

Karl nodded and started towards the kitchen. He wanted to meet her for himself. He walked in, and saw her and Ibeyla making medicine. Ryoko looked over to the entrance when someone entered. This wasn't someone that she had seen before. "Hi. I take it you already know about me?" "Well, Atherin said you were his sister, but he failed to tell me your name..." Karl responded, "Oh, and I'm Major Karl Schubaltz..." he said, holding out his hand to shake. "I'm Ryoko. It's nice to meet you Major." She said, taking Karl's hand. "Nice to meet you too..." Karl responded, withdrawing his hand after shaking.

Ryoko smiled. "Come join us Major, we can talk and stuff. It's better than sulking out there with the boys." Karl blinked. "No thank you..." he politely declined, "I have to do a few quick repairs on my Zaber Fang, Krieger." "If you say so Major. Perhaps another time then." She said, smiling sweetly at him. Karl nodded. "Perhaps another time..." he repeated, "See you two around..." he said, turning to continue to the Zoids hangar. "Bye Major!" Ryoko called after him. "I think I'm gonna go back and check in on the boys. They don't need to sulk anymore." She said getting up from the table. Ibeyla nodded. "Okay, go ahead. I'll clean up here and be out in a bit." she said, soaking a washcloth in the sink to clean up some of the mess she had made.

"See ya later, Ibeyla!' she waved as she left. Ryoko walked back to where the boys were still sitting. They all looked at her when she entered and the twins turned slightly red, remembering what Atherin had told them. "Hey guys!" She said, sitting down beside Donnie, causing him to turn a little redder in the face. She was going to sit in between them, but Shadow was there so she'd just make do.

"Hey Ryoko..." Donnie said. Shadow leaned over and growled happily, wagging her tail. She had warmed up to her much quicker than she had Tyme. Raven turned to Atherin. "Hey Dracula, why don't you introduce Ryoko to Flipper..." he said. Ryoko giggled. "It's not nice to give Azel that nickname just because he clicks a lot, Raven." She said petting Shadow's snout. Raven rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything. "Just wait 'til you meet him, you'll understand…." She giggled again. "I think it'll be just fine. I already know about Azel and Eiji and what they're like."

Raven sighed. He knew he wouldn't be able to convince her otherwise. "Well... meeting them in person is _completely_ different, Ryoko..." "I already know Raven. You don't need to tell me that." She continued petting Shadow, and then giggled quietly. Atherin blinked before looking away from her. She didn't need to tell him _that_ now did she!? Raven looked at Ryoko and Shadow oddly. "Is everything... alright?" She giggled more; "Yep. Everything's just fine." Raven looked at her disbelievingly, but didn't push the matter. While still petting Shadow, Ryoko returned to her attention back to the boys. "So what are you all sulking about huh?" She asked.

Raven opened his mouth to lie, until there was a quiet squeak from one of the doors. Avea had walked in her human form, but stopped and literally squeezed the life out of Ligie upon seeing Ryoko. Ryoko looked over to Avea. Atherin looked over as well. He knew that he had to tell Avea who she was before Ryoko scared him. "Avea, this is my sister, Ryoko." "Sister?" Avea said, looking over at Ryoko, still hugging Ligie. "Yeah... Raven ran into her while in town and brought her back." He tried to explain.

Avea looked over at Ryoko. "Hi... Ryoko, I'm Avea..." she said quietly. "Hello Avea." Ryoko said, getting up from the couch and then knelling in front of her. "You're such a cutie!" Avea squeaked and vanished in a puff of smoke, reappearing beside Donnie. She clung to his arm, whining. "Avea, she's not gonna hurt you." Atherin said, trying to calm her down. Ryoko had stood back up, and walked back over to sit next to her brother.

Avea let go of Donnie and looked over at Ryoko. She vanished in another puff of smoke, and reappeared beside Ryoko in her true form, still clutching Ligie. Ryoko held out her hand to show Avea that she wasn't a threat. "So Raven, what were you gonna tell me earlier?" Avea purred and licked her fingers, wagging her tail. Raven blinked. "I was gonna ask if you got the medicine made..."

Ryoko pet Avea as she continued to look between the twins. She knew that they were talking about something else other than medicine, but she'd play dumb...for now. "Yeah, I got the medicine done. It'll help Atherin's wounds heal a little better." Raven nodded. "That's good..." he said, "And did Ibeyla get her medicine made? I need that if I'm going to 'feed' both of you..." "I believe she finished as well. She was just cleaning up when I left." She replied. "That's good... I need that stuff..." Raven said.

Ryoko nodded, still petting Avea. She was still talking to Shadow as none of the boys were too talkative. Boys...they never had too much to say... She often wondered how they kept themselves entertained. Avea continued purring, nuzzling Ryoko's fingers. She wagged her tail like a puppy, loving the attention.

"Oh! Hey Atherin! I gotta show ya something that I learned! Watch!" She said as she held out her free hand. A small sphere of water formed in her palm. Okay, that wasn't anything new, he had seen that before. Well...the next thing he saw, he wasn't expecting. The water sphere suddenly turned to ice was he was momentarily stunned, before he regained himself. "W-When you'd learn to do that!?" Raven and Donnie stared in astonishment. They had never seen anything like it. Even Avea and Shadow were surprised and staring.

Ryoko giggled at their shocked expressions. "I learned this about a year and a half ago. I can even make it snow if it's raining out!" She said as the ice sphere melted back into her palm. Raven and Donnie didn't say anything, stunned. Raven finally spoke up. "You better not freeze the pond; the fish'll get mad, like when Atherin shoved me in a few weeks ago..." "I won't freeze the pond. That'd kill the poor little fish." Ryoko replied. "Yeah... and I'd really not like that to happen..." Donnie said. Don't worry Donnie. I wouldn't do that to your fish." She said. Donnie nodded. Raven looked over at Ryoko. "I don't suggest sticking your fingers in the water. The fish are a little.... temper mental now that they've met Atherin and I...."

Ryoko chuckled. "I bet they are. I can only imagine what you two have done to make them so temper mental." "We didn't do anything too rash... just shoving each other in..." Raven defended. "Well that'd make me mad too...two teenagers disturbing my home. I'd resort to biting too." The vampiress replied. "Well... they haven't bitten us... yet..." Raven said. "They'll get there; especially if you two keep aggravating them." "Hey we fed them, so I think we're even with them..."

"If you say so, Raven." She said as she went back to petting Avea. "Anything interesting you all want to talk about? And not just about the fish?" She asked again. Raven looked over at Ryoko. "I don't really have anything else to talk about... but I could show you the garden..." he offered. Ryoko nodded and stood up. She didn't know where the garden was, so she'd need the twins to show her around. Raven and Donnie stood up. Shadow got up as well to follow them. Ryoko followed after Raven and Donnie. Atherin wasn't about to go back outside any time soon, so he opted to just go back to his room to rest.

Raven and Donnie led Ryoko outside to the garden. Shadow following behind them, enjoying being outside. Ryoko looked around the garden. She walked around and wound up at the pond. She kneeled in front of it and looked in. Raven and Donnie walked over to the pond as well. Raven walked down and picked a few handfuls of the berries and gave some to Donnie and Ryoko. "Just feed these to the fish..." "Thanks Raven." She giggled as she started to feed the fish. "The fish aren't exactly very happy to see you Raven."

"Figured they wouldn't... last time they saw me, I bled in their water and I'm sure they didn't like that..." Raven said, tossing in some of the berries. Donnie sat down beside him and fed them as well. "No, they weren't too happy about that. They also say if you or Atherin decide to play in their pond again, they will bite you." She giggled again. "Hey, we're feeding them, they should be happy..." Raven said, throwing some more berries to them. "You would think, but apparently that's not the case." She replied.

"Stubborn fish..." Raven muttered, "But, I think having Rabe jump in the water after me upset them a bit..." He added, looking at the slightly bloody Organoid tracks still faintly visible in the muddier part of the bank. "They're not happy with him either. And they don't appreciate you calling them stubborn." The vampiress said. Donnie snickered at that comment. Raven just sighed. "Well... they should be happy I kept Atherin from trying to eat one of them..." Donnie blinked. "He tried to _eat_ one of my fish?!" he said in shock. Ryoko chuckled. "He wouldn't have eaten them... At least I don't think he would have..." Ryoko trailed, putting her finger to her lips in thought.

"He seemed pretty serious about it..." Raven said. Donnie swallowed a little hard, not liking that Atherin had wanted to eat one of his fish. "...If they weren't so toxic I'm pretty sure he'd have....tried to... And no offense Donnie...but...vampires just have this innate instinct to 'eat' just about whatever moves." She said, seeing Donnie's expression. "I wouldn't have let him..." Raven said, throwing a few more berries in. Donnie nodded slightly, though that fact made him a little nervous. "He'd have learned his lesson though." Ryoko replied tossing in a few more berries to the fish. She noticed Donnie's nervous expression. "Relax Donnie. It's extremely rare that we do so." "Okay..." Donnie said, throwing in a few berries to the fish.

After a while the berries were all gone, but the fish still weren't very happy with Raven. They made their unhappiness known when they splashed him with their fins as they swam away. Raven looked over at Ryoko. "You told them to do that, didn't you?" he said, brushing off some of the water. Donnie couldn't help but snicker. "....Maybe...." She said mischievously.

"I knew it..." Raven said. Donnie laughed quietly again. Shadow leaned over and looked at Ryoko and then to the fish. She didn't even make a move to stick up for Raven. "Here. You can't go back in all wet." She said as she gathered the remaining water that was on Raven, forming it into a sphere before placing it back in the water. "Thanks..." Raven said, getting up. Donnie got up as well. Shadow walked over and nosed Ryoko, purring and wagging her tail. The vampiress patted Shadow's snout. "You boys can leave us now. We've got some 'girl' talk to do." Ryoko said, winking at them. Raven and Donnie nodded. They walked back inside Horai to find Atherin. Shadow stayed behind, licking Ryoko and wagging her tail again.

Atherin had retreated back to his cave of a room. He may have been feeling better, but he was still recovering and still liked it as dark and cold as he could tolerate. Raven went to check on Atherin while Donnie went to the Zoids hangar to help Major Schubaltz work on his Zaber Fang. Raven knocked on the door to Atherin's room. "Hey Dracula, you in there?" He asked. "Yeah. Where else would I be?" The vampire replied. Raven opened the door. "I was just making sure, since you sorta just vanished..." he said, walking in and shutting the door. "Well, this is where I vanished to." Atherin said looking over to Raven. Since he had no lights on, all Raven could see were his glowing eyes.

Raven blinked when he saw that. "You really need to stop doing that..." he said, finding the chair and sitting down. "Stop doing what?" Atherin asked. "Your eyes..." Raven responded. "Well sorry! It's not like I can help it at the moment!" Atherin defended. Making sure that his eyes didn't glow in the dark required energy; energy that he didn't have to spare. "Jeez calm down Dracula... I was just joking with you..." Raven said, "It might freak me out a bit, but it's not like it bothers me much..." Atherin calmed down a little. Lately he found that he was quick to irritate and he blamed the fact that he was still recovering. "Ryoko still in the garden I take it?"

"Yeah..." Raven said, "She said the fish aren't happy with us... and that if we try to go swimming again, they just might bite us. Apparently they didn't like me bleeding in their water when Rabe attacked..." he said. "Well, at least we have a heads up to not shove each other in there for a while." Atherin said. "Yeah..." Raven said, "Apparently they were mad enough to splash me... although I think Ryoko had a hand in that..." "She probably did. I suspect that she told them to do it." Atherin responded.

Raven nodded. "Yeah... I'm almost afraid to think what she's trying to convince Shadow to do now..." He sighed. "She's talking to Shadow?" Atherin asked seeming a little nervous about that, even his eyes dimmed a little. "Yeah...why?" Raven asked. Atherin closed his eyes before opening them again. "....More....'girl' talk..." Raven nodded. "Yeah, I think she mentioned that, why? Is something wrong?" Atherin looked away from Raven. "...Well... Apparently...Shadow has...a beau..."

Raven nearly fell out of the chair. "What?!" he exclaimed. "That's what she told me earlier...." Atherin replied. "Why didn't you tell me?!" Raven more or less demanded. "You guys left before I could. And do you really think you can stop Shadow? In case you haven't noticed she is a girl too!" "I never said I was going to stop her... I just didn't know..." Raven said. "Well neither did I." Atherin replied. "Great..." Raven groaned, leaning back in the chair, "I just hope she doesn't go as far as hatchlings..." "....I think....that's what they're talking about....." Raven's eyes went wide. "Is she going to have hatchlings?!" "Not that I know of... If she is, Ryoko will find out...and then she'll tell me....and I'll tell you..." Atherin said. "If you find anything out, please tell me..." Raven requested. "I will. Don't worry." Raven nodded. "I just hope she doesn't have hatchlings..." "I don't think you'll be able to stop her." Atherin replied. "I know but... I'd like to think she won't..." Raven said. "Well...I just don't know what to tell you."

Raven sighed. "Anyway... how are you feeling?" He asked. "I'm feeling better. The Aluru paste is helping. I think...so long as I keep it on the wound, the healing process will be cut in half." Atherin answered. "That's good..." Raven said, "... we need you back on your feet, so to speak, as quick as possible. There's no telling when Rabe will return..." "I know. I want to get better too. I hate being cooped up inside the Zoid..." Atherin whined slightly. "You'll live..." Raven sighed, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, yeah just shut it." Raven smirked. "Well, you're certainly doing better...." Atherin mock glared at him. "Don't you have anyone else to bother at the moment?" "Nope..." Raven replied, smirking. "You're enjoying the fact that you can finally one up me aren't you?" Raven nodded. "You bet..."

"Don't tempt me into biting you again. In my bored state I sometimes like to 'eat' just for the hell of it." Atherin 'threatened'. Raven rolled his eyes. "You wouldn't bite me again..." "Yes I would." "I doubt it..." Raven said, smirking, "... you can barely walk, let alone bite me...." "So? I can paralyze you. 'Charm' you even." Atherin replied. "You said you wouldn't 'charm' me, Dracula..." Raven said. "It was a joke, but I never said anything about paralyzing you." Atherin replied. "And how would you do that?" Raven asked. "Want me to show you?" Atherin asked back. Raven looked at him and blinked. "No, I'd rather you not show me..." "Thought as much. But it doesn't hurt nor does it last long." Atherin said. "Still, I'd rather not find out..." Raven said, "Even though, you still wouldn't bite me..." "Do we have to argue about this? Can't we talk about something else? Preferably not about me 'feeding'?" Raven shrugged. "Sure Dracula..." ".... It would help if you picked something this time."

"Hey it's your turn. I brought up the fish being unhappy and you being to chicken to bite me. I'd say it's your turn..." Atherin wasn't happy about being called a chicken. He made his displeasure known when his eyes turned red, narrowed at Raven. Raven flinched when he saw that. For a second he thought he had gone into a blood lust. "Now you can't call me a 'chicken' any more." Atherin replied, as his eyes went back to normal. Raven nodded, before he lowered his gaze. He couldn't help but think back to the incident with Tyme.

Atherin sighed, perhaps he had taken it too far... "Look, I know what you're thinking about just by the look on your face. I didn't mean to bring that up." Raven sighed. "Sorry..." he said quietly, "But it was just, before Tyme... 'attacked' me, his eyes... flashed red..." "...That usually happens when we're upset or angry... I know that it also happens when we go into blood lust, but I think I can classify that as being angry too...." Raven nodded slightly, his gaze still lowered. He couldn't help but still be a little uneasy. Great. He had gone and touched a nerve on accident and now Raven would be like this for a while... There had to be something that he could do to get Raven to stop thinking about it. Raven's gaze was still downcast. He couldn't stop replaying the scene over and over in his mind...

"...You're not gonna start this again are you? I know that he scared you badly....but....I won't let it happen again." Atherin reassured. Raven nodded slightly. He knew Atherin wouldn't let Tyme get him, but that didn't mean he wasn't worried about it... Atherin sighed. He wasn't good at this sort of thing. "Do I need to call Ryoko in here to get you to cheer up?" Raven shook his head no. The company of another vampire wouldn't make him feel better at all... "....Do you want me to just shut up and pretend I'm not here?" Atherin asked sensing the faint vibes coming from Raven that said he was uncomfortable even with him a little. Raven shook his head 'no'. "...You're not making this easy for me to try and 'cheer' you up. Will you at least talk to me?" Raven didn't look up. He didn't really feel like talking at the moment. "...You're starting to make me feel horrible you know..." Atherin said quietly, his eyes dimming, showing that he was feeling bad. "... sorry..." Raven said quietly. Atherin sighed again. He knew Raven wouldn't snap out of this for a while. Raven drew his legs up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them. He was starting to shake a little.

Atherin knew that he had to get Raven's mind off what Tyme had done. So....he decided to change the subject, as discreetly as possible. "...I wonder who Shadow's beau is...." He pondered. He had been wondering, Ryoko didn't tell him anything past the fact that she _had_ a beau. Raven glanced up at him. He didn't say anything, but at least he was looking at him. "....Well...I can cross out the possibility of it being Zeke... I know she'd sooner attack him than even _think_ about him like that. That leaves....the possibility that it's either a male Organoid that we don't know about or...." Atherin trailed off. "Oh Eve...." Raven groaned, leaning his head back against the chair, closing his eyes and sighing at the thought. Atherin had to pretend that he didn't hear Raven...not that he could see him smirking anyways. It was still pitch black in him room. He'd let Raven start the...'conversation'...they were about to have. "Don't pretend you didn't hear me, Dracula..." Raven growled, "If it's who I think it is, I'm personally gonna strangle you..."

"Why me? It's not _my_ fault." Atherin defended. "So? He's _your_ Organoid..." Raven replied. "As Shadow's yours, but you don't see me making empty threat because of it." Atherin teased. Raven rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well Azel isn't the one that's going to have hatchlings..." "You don't even know if it is Azel. ....It _could_ be Zeke..." Atherin teased, knowing that he'd get Raven riled up by that statement. "Shut it Dracula..." Raven growled, "Shadow HATES Zeke..." "Lighten up will ya? I know that she hates Zeke. I'm just teasing you." Raven rolled his eyes. He grabbed the pillow that was on the chair and threw it at Atherin, hitting him in his face.

Atherin was unfazed by the pillow; a sudden...thought had just come to him. "You know...if it is Azel...that'll make us 'in-laws'." Raven groaned and leaned his head back. "Great... just freaking great..." he muttered. "Aww, come on... It's not _that_ bad...." Raven just glared at him. "For you maybe..."

Atherin closed his eyes again. As a sudden wave a fatigue washed over him. The Aluru paste was helping, but that didn't mean that he still didn't suffer from fatigue. He opened his eyes only half way before answering Raven. "...You'll live Raven..." Raven sat up instantly. "Hey Dracula, you alright?" Atherin nodded, and then remembered that Raven couldn't see him. "...I'm alright... It's just a wave of fatigue is all..." "Shouldn't you sit down?" He asked. "I _am_ sitting down!" Atherin exclaimed. "I'm sitting on my bed! What _are_ you!? Blind!?" "I can't see Atherin! It's freaking pitch black in here!" Raven shouted. Atherin laid down on his bed. He was too tired at the moment for a shouting match. That and it hurt his ears in such a confined space. "...Sorry... I'm not thinking straight..." "It's alright..." Raven said.

Atherin's eyes slid further shut, even though he was trying to stay awake. He hated being injured like this. It meant that he was bed ridden. As much as he tried he just couldn't keep his eyes open for too much longer. "...You should go find Ryoko and Shadow... I'm about to fall back asleep again..." Raven nodded. "Okay, get some rest. I'll go make sure Ryoko hasn't gotten into any trouble..." Atherin chuckled. "You left Shadow with her...and that was a mistake." Raven rolled his eyes. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?" he shot back, opening the door. "I said I'm about to, doesn't mean I am right this moment." Atherin replied. "Just go to sleep..." Raven sighed, walking out and closing the door.

Ryoko and Shadow were in the living area chattering away. At some point and time Ibeyla and Obscura had joined them. Raven walked out into the living area. Shadow immediately got up and ran over to him, licking him. He pushed her away and sat down beside Ibeyla. Shadow jumped up onto the couch and curled up beside him. "How's Atherin feeling?" Ryoko asked when he had sat down. "Better..." Raven answered, "Well, good enough to argue with me...." Ryoko smiled. "I'm glad to hear that he's feeling better. Hopefully he'll be better within the next week." Raven nodded. "Don't worry. By the look of it, I think he'll be running around again in a few days..." Ryoko nodded before starting to talk to Shadow again. Shadow would respond in growls, but Ryoko could understand her. Raven started stroking Shadow as she 'talked' with Ryoko. Ibeyla was busy stroking Obscura, letting Ryoko continue her 'conversation'. The rest of the day passed peacefully. Donnie had showed Ryoko a room that she could use while she staid on Horai before he went to bed, making sure she was comfortable where she was at near Atherin's room.

* * *

_**Author's Note:**_ Who saw that coming? Huh? Besides you Ibeyla since you helped write it! XP Anyways! Apart from finding Atherin's supposedly deceased sister and finding out that Shadow has a beau nothing too bad happened, which is a nice break from their 'hectic schedule' of fighting off Organoids that want to eat them ^^; Hopefully I'll get back into my weekly update again this coming week.


	37. Playtime

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do NOT own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul, Rika, Avea, Serrer and Libelle do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3: **__The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME**__ as do the towns Redai and Jurei__._

_**Author's Note:**_ Hey everyone! I'm SO sorry for the very late update! My computer caught a virus at the beginning of March and it was worked on for nearly a week. The good news? My computer was saved as well as my notes for this story. The bad news? I lost everything else, including my Microsoft Word that I had been using. But, thanks to ITman496 I was able to get Word back and finally update! :D So this chapter is dedicated to him for helping so much. And again, I must apologize for taking so long to get this story updated.

We thank those of you that Reviewed!

ϿPlaytimeϾ

A few days have passed since Ryoko joined up with her brother. Things were pretty peaceful around Horai. Atherin had completely recovered from his wounds, and that included his energy. However, at the moment, only he and Ryoko were aware of that fact, and he wanted to....'celebrate' it by surprising everyone. Raven was wandering Horai, looking for Atherin. No one had seen him all day, and he was starting to get a little worried. It was now well past dark, and everyone else had gone to sleep. But he was determined to find Atherin...

Atherin could see Raven coming his way. He'd lay his trap and 'lure' Raven out to the garden where his...'celebration' would commence. He quickly whipped around the corner, making sure that Raven could see the trail of his red scarf before he disappeared out to the garden to hide in a nearby tree. "Atherin! Get back here!" Raven shouted, seeing his scarf. He broke out into a run after him, trying to catch him. Atherin could hear Raven running down the hallway after him, not that he would find him. He was already hiding up in a tree waiting for Raven to come out. He was snickering slightly, but quickly quieted down.

Raven stopped at the beginning of the garden. He had the sinking feeling that he was walking into a trap, but he was determined to find Atherin. Atherin stayed hidden. He even dimmed his eyes so Raven wouldn't be able to find him. He was going to get a kick out of this. Raven wandered over by the pond. He was still a few yards away from the tree, out of Atherin's 'striking distance'. Atherin needed to draw Raven just a little closer to where he was. Raven was just bare inches from his 'strike zone'. He made a quite rustle, but made it so that didn't sound like it was the tree. He hoped it spooked Raven closer to him.

Raven looked up into the trees. He took a few steps closer, trying to see what was hiding in the branches. Atherin remained hidden still. If he set his plan into motion right now then Raven would know that it's him. He'd wait patiently until Raven grew less suspicious of his tree. Raven turned and looked away from the tree, hearing something in another tree. It looked like a white owl. Atherin smiled, his fangs gleamed white. This was just what he was waiting for. His eyes started to glow again and he slowly started to stalk Raven.

Raven didn't notice, still staring at the white owl. Its eyes seemed to be glowing red, which was a _little_ strange... This was just perfect in Atherin's books. Raven was too preoccupied with something else to notice him creeping up on him. He hoped to keep it that way until he 'attacked'. Raven narrowed his eyes, finding the owl increasingly strange. It seemed to have blue feathers on its wings, which he knew wasn't natural. Its beak was also a gold color, which also didn't appear natural. Atherin was a little concerned that Raven hadn't noticed him yet. But he passed it off as a better thing for him. He edged closer to where Raven was, and as he did so a branch snapped, alerting Raven. Raven immediately whipped around, looking for the source of the sound. He was starting to get nervous.

Atherin's grin widened when he saw how nervous Raven was getting. He wouldn't be able to hold his laughter in for much longer. He decided to that it was about time to 'celebrate'. His eyes were still gleaming and his fangs were bared. He hissed, knowing that **that** would catch Raven's attention more. Raven nearly jumped when he heard that. He looked up at the tree, and saw glowing lavender eyes staring back at him. His heart nearly stopped upon seeing that. Atherin had to stop himself from laughing just at that sight alone. He edged closer making sure that Raven could see his fangs this time and hissed again.

Raven paled when he saw that, and then realized that it was Atherin. He had never seen Atherin acting like this, and it was scaring him. "Atherin?" he asked, taking a step back. Atherin had to stop himself from smirking to alert Raven as to what he was doing. He decided it was time to 'celebrate'. He lunged at Raven, jumping on top of him. Raven shouted in surprise, suddenly finding himself pinned with Atherin on top of him. "Atherin? What the Helkat are you doing?" he yelled, struggling to get free. Atherin just gave him an 'evil' fanged grin before he swooped down and 'bit' Raven. Raven's eyes went wide and he froze, never expecting Atherin to 'bite' him on his neck. He didn't have a clue as to what was going on, or what the cause was to Atherin's strange behavior.

Atherin couldn't help but start laughing. It was even better than what he had planned. He tried to stand to let Raven up but couldn't even manage to get off the ground. Raven sat up and glared at him. "Atherin, what the Furher was that for?" he snapped, not understanding what he had just done that for. "To 'celebrate'! My wound's all healed up!" Atherin managed to say through his laughter. Raven narrowed his eyes. "You call THAT 'celebrating'? You nearly gave me a damn heart attack!" Atherin laughed harder. "But it was a good way to 'celebrate'! And by scaring you that badly means I'm back to my old self." Raven glared at him. "You suck, Dracula..." he growled, "That wasn't funny..." Atherin chuckled. "I know I 'suck' Raven. You don't need to tell me that!" Raven sighed. "That's not what I meant, Dracula..." Atherin chuckled. He was feeling better and now able to tease Raven again.

Raven looked over at the pond. "I have half a mind to shove you in the pond, Dracula..." he growled. "You won't. It's a little late for that don't cha think?" The vampire asked. "Well, it's also a little late to be scaring me to death!" Raven shot back. "It's only a little after midnight though! It's not too late to scare you!" Atherin 'defended'. Raven rolled his eyes. "Well, in human terms, it's too late for this!" "...You're not very fun... And if it's too late then why the hell are you still up?" "I was trying to find you!" Raven retorted, "You vanished! Donnie and I stayed up to look for you!"

"Where in the world did you all look? I was on Horai all day." Atherin said. "We looked everywhere! You just vanished!" Raven replied. "Odd... I don't remember disappearing..." Raven rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean, Dracula..."

"Sorry Raven... Perhaps you just weren't looking hard enough." Atherin said as he stood up, holding out a hand to help Raven up. "Is Donnie still up looking for me? If so I'll go apologize to him for worrying him." Raven narrowed his eyes. "Donnie is still up, but I'm not telling you where he is... I know what you're planning..." He said. "...Do you really think I'd scare Donnie? Your twin may trust Ryoko and me now, but it doesn't mean that I'm gonna go and scare him!" Raven glared. "Yes, I **do** think you'd scare Donne...." "You told me not too. Just because I hardly listen to you doesn't mean that I won't respect this request." Atherin said. Raven narrowed his eyes. "You seriously need to work on your lying..." Atherin sighed. "Look, I'm not gonna go scare him. Just to prove it to ya, I'm headin' to bed. You can tell him yourself." Atherin said as he started to walk off. Raven sighed and got up. He walked back inside Horai, wanting to go to sleep.

Donnie, meanwhile, was walking around Horai, still looking for Atherin. Atherin was heading back to him room, however...on the way back he saw Donnie. He already got one twin he might as well try to get the set. Yeah sure, he told Raven that he wouldn't and he wasn't planning to, but since Raven thought that he would, he would. After all, he didn't want to be called a liar! Donnie was looking through the hundreds of rooms, trying to find Atherin. He hadn't seen Raven since the two had split up a few hours before, he didn't know that Atherin was in a 'dangerous' mood.

Atherin wasn't going to tail Donnie all night. As much as he liked to 'stalk' people it was more fun to scare them...especially if they're your friends! After a few more feet of 'stalking' did Atherin make his move. He came up behind Donnie and grabbed him pretending to 'bite' him. He was curious if he'd get a similar reaction to Raven. Donnie screamed and started struggling. He had just been walking, and now someone was grabbing and biting him! "Let me go!" he shouted, trying to get free. Atherin let him go and Donnie fell forward a little. He didn't want to alert Raven as to what he was doing...before he could lock himself in his room so he wouldn't kill him...

Too late. Raven came running down the hall. "Atherin!" he shouted, clearly angry. Donnie was trying to catch his breath, trying to keep himself from having a heart attack. "I wasn't going to, but as you said I would I did. I didn't want you to be a liar." Atherin said. Raven narrowed his eyes. "Shut up Dracula...." "I swear. Neither of you are any fun." Atherin mock pouted. "Then why did you try and scare us half to death?" Raven asked, crossing his arms. Donnie had evened his breathing, and had managed to stop himself from having a heart attack.

"It's who I am Raven. As hard as I try to be 'human' there's just something that I can't change." Atherin answered. Raven rolled his eyes. "Yeah well... just don't go scaring the hell out of us every day..." He sighed. "I don't. I argue with you daily, not scare you." Raven sighed. "Thank Eve for that..." "If I scared you daily you'd eventually get use to it. That means it loses its effect...and I don't get to see these kinds of reactions." Atherin said brightly.

Raven rolled his eyes. "That and I'd lose about five years off my life expectancy, even with your blood..." "But you'd still live." Atherin pointed out. Raven rolled his eyes. "Whatever... just go to sleep before you give Donnie and me heart attacks..." "Fine, fine. Be that way." Atherin said as he disappeared in front of them and reappeared behind them poking them in the sides, causing them to jump, before he went to his room. He had moved before Raven could swing at him and had shut and locked his door before he could open it too. Raven spun around. He grabbed the master key from Donnie, and ran to Atherin's room.

Atherin could hear Raven grabbing the master keys from Donnie. Honestly...he was going to go to sleep but if Raven was going to walk into the vampire's coven, then so be it! He positioned himself out of view...which wasn't hard as it was pitch black as always. Raven forced the key into the door, and unlocked it. He opened it slowly, uneasy about just barging in. Atherin just watched as Raven hesitantly opened his door...as if he was afraid of something jumping out at him... Well...technically...he was going to jump on top of him and pin him again...and maybe really bite him for being such a spoil sport. Raven slowly stepped into Atherin's room, looking around hesitantly. He just _**knew**_ Atherin was planning something...

Atherin waited. Raven was still close enough to the door that if he jumped down on him, he'd be seen in the hallway.... Which when he thought about he could use to scare Donnie again! He was sure Donnie would just love to see his brother being pulled into a dark room with a...temperamental...vampire inside. Before Raven could flick the lights on he pounced on him. Raven yelped in surprise, Atherin pouncing on him... again. Donnie gasped in surprise, not expecting Atherin to 'attack' again. Before Raven could say anything else Atherin started to drag Raven into the dark room, much like how one would see a victim of a horror movie. Raven started struggling. "Atherin! Let me go, damn it!" he shouted, trying to get free. Donnie about fainted when he saw that. He reassured himself that Atherin was only playing... he hoped...when he saw and heard the door to Atherin's room click shut.

"...This is what you get for not just leaving things alone... You only have yourself to blame as you **did** just basically came into the 'vampire's coven'." Atherin replied. He was extremely tempted to bite him, but he didn't want to get Raven any angrier. Raven narrowed his eyes. "Hey, _you're_ the one that just _had_ to scare one last time, Dracula!" he defended. "I didn't scare either of you. You **knew** I was there. You're both just too jumpy." Atherin replied. Raven glared at him. "Well, we're only jumpy because you just scared the hell out of us!"

Atherin was tired of being yelled at. He'd get his 'revenge', kick Raven out of his room, relock the door and barricade it and then go to sleep. Well...to start his 'to do' list he pinned Raven once again. Raven blinked in confusion when Atherin pinned him, before he started struggling. "Atherin, let me go!" he shouted, trying to get free. "...No... I think I'm gonna have a midnight 'snack' before I go to bed." The vampire replied. Raven blinked and stopped struggling for a moment. "You wouldn't...."

Atherin didn't answer him. He was going to, but considering how....generous...Raven had been when he was hurt he didn't want to take advantage of it. He had already felt bad enough about it and in a corner of his mind Driacoul's words were still ringing in his ears. Raven blinked again. "Dracula? Something wrong?" Atherin still didn't answer him, lost in his own little world at the moment. While being cooped up for the past week he had a lot of time to think. Raven was starting to get a little concerned when Atherin didn't make any moves or do anything. "Atherin?"

Atherin semi-heard him, as in, he heard him, but wasn't paying attention to what Raven was saying. He let go of him before going to sit on his bed. Raven sat up, not understanding what was wrong with Atherin. "Atherin? Is something wrong?" He asked. "You...don't need to worry about it." Atherin answered. Raven narrowed his eyes. "Yeah I do. You can tell me what's wrong...." He said. "....I don't....want to abuse your blood donning...." Atherin replied quietly.

Raven blinked in surprise He got up and sat beside him. "I was just joking when I said that, Atherin. I didn't mean to upset you..." "You didn't upset me. I'm...just thinking too much is all..." Raven sighed. "Atherin, you aren't doing anything wrong, if that's what you're thinking about..." "...It's not..." Technically he wasn't at the moment, right now he was just dwelling. "Well then, please tell me what's bothering you..." Raven asked. "...It's what I just told you earlier." Atherin answered. Raven sighed again. "Atherin, you aren't abusing my blood donning..." "...You should go... Donnie _was_ panicking when I dragged you in here..." Raven shook his head 'no'. "He knows you were just playing..."

Atherin just nodded slightly. He still felt guilty about taking so much blood from Raven. If it wasn't for Rabe and Driacoul on their tails, he'd be going to town instead of biting his best friend. Raven sighed again. "C'mon Atherin... don't start this again..." Raven lowered his gaze, trying to think of a way to cheer Atherin up. He smirked suddenly and looked over at Atherin. He took off his left glove and offered him his wrist. "Do you still want that midnight 'snack', Atherin?" he asked, his smirk broadening slightly.

Atherin looked over to him. He _**did**_ want a 'pick-me-up'... Raven was offering and he wasn't 'feeding' without permission.....so...why not? "....At least it's easier to cheer me up than it is you." He joked slightly, taking Raven's offered wrist. He bit down before Raven could retort. Raven rolled his eyes and turned away, letting Atherin 'feed' without interruption. After all, he didn't want Atherin talking with his mouth full. Atherin only 'fed' for a few minutes before releasing Raven's wrist. He felt better, of course, a lot of people felt better after they 'ate' for no reason whatsoever. "Thanks Raven..." he said as he sealed the wounds. "No problem Dracula..." Raven said, putting back on his glove when Atherin finished sealing the wounds.

Atherin yawned; he did have a busy day of plotting and scaring. "Alright, I think it's time you left." He said pointing to the door. Raven rolled his eyes. "Just don't do any more late night scaring..." he said as he got up. "Yeah ,yeah... I won't. Now leave." Atherin said as he settled down into his bed. "Alright... I hear ya..." Raven muttered, leaving the room. Donnie immediately made sure he was alright, before they left to get some sleep.

_**Author's Note:**_ I know it's a bit short, but if I had continued on in my notes then it would run into something else and THAT is a bit of a big section and has nothing to do with the chapter's title ^^; I hope that you all enjoyed this and do forgive me for taking so long to get this typed up and posted. I will try to get back into my weekly updating. It just depends on work. ^^; Any who, hope you guys like this chapter! Please Review!


	38. Strange Encounters

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do NOT own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe__, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul, Rika, Avea, Serrer and Libelle do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME**__ as do the towns Redai and Jurei._

_**Author's Note:**_ Hey everyone! I decided to update this fic a bit earlier since I'm in the writing mood. This chapter might be hard to understand at first, but it will be made clear later on. So please bear with me and ShadowRebirth37 ^^;

We thank those of you that Reviewed!

* * *

Ͽ Strange Encounters Ͼ

Morning soon came, not that Atherin nor Ryoko could tell. Both of their rooms were pitch black and just about freezing. It was a wonder that they hadn't of frozen yet. Raven woke up relatively early, around nine. He walked to Atherin's room and knocked on the door. "Hey Dracula, wakey, wakey!" All Raven received was a low, threatening growl. Atherin wasn't ready to wake up yet. It was too early for him.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Growl all you want, I'm not leaving 'til you're up...." Atherin growled again. "....Führer...you... Now go...away!" Raven banged on the door again. "I'm not leaving 'til you're up!" "...Then you'll be standing there for another hour or two!" The vampire replied back. Raven rolled his eyes. "Don't make me go in there and turn on the lights..." "What are you? My mother?" Atherin asked sarcastically. "No, but I _will_ turn on the lights if you don't wake up, Dracula..." "Go bother somebody else... You might have better luck getting Ryoko up... She doesn't argue...**too** much..."

Raven sighed and opened the door. "Wakey, wakey!" he said, flipping on the lights all the way. Atherin hissed at the sudden and painful brightness of his room. He pulled the covers over him as well as put his pillow over his head to try and block out the light. "C'mon Dracula, wake up!" Raven said, pulling off his covers. Atherin growled again and took a swipe at Raven. He was **not** a morning person. Raven avoided the swipe. "Oh come on! Is that the best you can do?" he joked, smirking.

Atherin peeked an eye at Raven from under his pillow. The next thing Raven knew he couldn't move and he fell backwards onto the floor. Raven took a moment to realize what Atherin had done; he had paralyzed him. Needless to say he was a little surprised, but he knew Atherin wouldn't do anything to hurt him. Atherin gathered his pillow and blanket and stood up, making sure that he didn't stand on Raven. "Next time you disturb me, I'll make sure to stuff you in a broom closet bound and gagged." He said as he vanished who knows where to finish sleeping.

Raven sat up, recovering from the paralysis. He got to his feet and left the room, knowing Atherin wasn't going to go back to his room. Raven decided to try his luck with Ryoko. He walked to her room and knocked on the door. "Ryoko? Are you awake?" he asked. "Mmm? I'm awake... Something wrong?" She called out. "Well... apart from Atherin paralyzing me from waking him up, I'm good..." Raven said. Ryoko laughed quietly. "He paralyzed you? He must have had a rough night to do that." "You could say that..." Raven said somewhat quietly, rubbing his neck where Atherin had 'bitten' him.

Ryoko pretended to not hear Raven's comment. She was finish dressing and now all she had to do was brush her hair. When she had finished that she opened the door and walk out. There was something different about her today.... Raven looked at her. "Something's different... did you change something?" he asked, unable to place it. "Oh! You noticed so soon? Well Atherin made me this," she said as she showed him a gold armband with the red mineral set in it, "it's the reason none of us could find him yesterday. He was working all day on it..." Raven nodded. "So that's why he was gone all day yesterday..." he mused mostly to himself.

"Yeah... He didn't leave Horai, I would have known if he had, so it's a mystery to me where he got this metal... It's kinda easy to figure out that he became a forge for a day with his fire ability..." Raven nodded. "Well, I wish he'd have told us what he was doing... Donnie and I looked everywhere for him..." "...It's probably because he didn't want either of you to get hurt. When I say that he became a forge I mean it... It was probably blistering hot and took some energy. I don't know how he didn't faint from that kind of heat....in fact....he just as well may have.... But I'm not gonna pry it out of him. I'm just grateful that he was able to make this for me."

Raven nodded. "It's good you have it, you'll need it if Donnie or I are going to let you 'feed'..." Ryoko nodded. "Yeah...I don't want to hurt either of you." Raven and Ryoko started towards the main living area. "So Ryoko, when will you need to 'feed' off of Donnie or me?" he asked curiously. Ryoko thought about it for a moment. "...Not for another day or two..." Raven nodded. "Okay, that'll give Donnie a little time to warm up to the idea of letting you 'feed' off of him..." "If he's uncomfortable about it I can always find someone else who'll be willing." "If it comes to it, Ibeyla and I could always let you. Although, I don't think Donnie will be unwilling, after all he trusts you and Atherin completely now..." "That's good to hear. But I won't need any for at least 48 hours." Raven nodded. "I'm sure Donnie will let you..." he said as they walked into the main living area. Donnie was watering an orchid that was on the table, unaware that they had walked in.

They quietly walked over to where Donnie was. She didn't want to scare him and cause him to damage the orchid. Donnie sat the small cup of water down, making sure water didn't leak all over the table. "Good morning Donnie." Ryoko said sweetly as soon as she was sure he wouldn't crush the delicate flower. Donnie jumped and spun around, obviously startled. "Oh, hello Ryoko..." he said, quickly calming down. She chuckled a little when Donnie had jumped. "I'm sorry Donnie. I didn't mean to scare you." "It's okay... I'm just a little jumpy after last night..." Donnie said. "...I guess Atherin got to you too..." She chuckled again. Donnie nodded. "Yeah, he did..." "He didn't mean any harm. He was just bored, having been bed ridden for the past week." Ryoko replied. "I know... but he still scared me..." Donnie said, "I'm not used to Atherin's idea of 'fun' yet..." "I don't think he'll scare you again, Donnie." The vampiress reassured. "That's good... I about had a heart attack last night..." Donnie said. "It was just pent up energy channeled the wrong way." "I know..." Donnie said. "Well...now what do you two want to talk about?"

Raven sat down on the couch. "Well... we need to decide who'll be giving you blood, Ryoko..." Ryoko sat down beside him. She didn't care which of her new friends 'donated' so long as they were willing. Donnie sat down beside Raven and sighed in thought. "Well... I think I could let you 'feed' off me, Ryoko..." he said. "Donnie, if you're not comfortable with it you don't need to force yourself to." "No, its okay..." Donnie reassured her. "So if I were to tell you that I needed to 'feed' now you'd let me?" Donnie nodded. He didn't really have a problem with it anymore. Ryoko smiled. "Glad to see that you really are sure. But don't worry; I don't need any at the moment. I was just making sure." Donnie nodded. "Just tell me when you are, and I'll let you..." Ryoko nodded. "It won't be for another day or two." "Okay..." Donnie said, "Just let me know..."

ϿϿϿϿϿ

In the garden, a white shape was slinking through the plants and bushes. It stepped into a clearing, revealing it to be a white wolf, with a pale blue fur on its paws, tail and in a stripe down her back. Her underside was a dark grey, and her eyes were a slightly-glowing crimson. Her claws and teeth were an unnatural gold color, and unusually sharp. She sniffed the air, moving closer to where Atherin was sleeping. The vampire had vanished to the garden. It was pretty cool outside. He knew that there was a possibility that he could be attacked out here, but for some reason...it felt really peaceful. Atherin remained sleeping, unaware of what was coming toward him. He felt peaceful outside, which was odd considering what was after them.

The wolf walked over to Atherin, sniffing his face. She wagged her tail briefly, and licked his cheek. "Mmm..." Atherin groaned as he rolled over. His eyes fluttered open briefly, seeing a blurred white shape before he closed his eyes again. The wolf cocked her head and pawed at his shoulder, whining quietly. She leaned down and licked his face again, wagging her tail slightly. Atherin opened his eyes again, trying to focus on what was trying to wake him. It was definitely better than Raven pounding on his door. When he sat up slowly, after figuring out what was in front of him. His sleep logged brain didn't feel like trying to comprehend how she was here at the moment...

The wolf wagged her tail and barked, licking him again. She pawed at him playfully and licked him. Atherin looked at the wolf strangely. He didn't know any wolves that were this friendly. He hesitantly put his hand out to pet her. When she made no aggressive moves toward him he petted her. The wolf wagged her tail and barked happily, licking his hand as he petted her. "You like that, don't cha girl?" He chuckled as he continued to pet her. The wolf nodded and licked him again, her tail wagging more as he continued to pet her. Atherin chuckled again as the wolf licked him, wanting more attention. He couldn't place it but he felt comfortable with this wolf. The wolf pawed at him again, rubbing her head against his hand. She started making a growl-like purr.

Atherin started to pet her again. He wasn't at all fazed by her appearance. He had learned early on to just accept how things look and not to question it. "You seem to really like me..." Atherin mused to himself, as he pulled her into a hug. He was still tired and didn't really have coherent thought... The wolf barked happily when he hugged her. Wolves, after all, loved contact. She wagged her tail, licking his face again. Atherin chuckled a little. He let go of his hug, but continued to pet her. "What're you doin' here anyways girl?" The wolf barked and wagged her tail happily, before she licked him again. Atherin chuckled again. He continued to pet her, not minding the contact.

The wolf licked him again, before she pulled away, looking back at him and barking. Atherin looked at her in confusion. He wasn't a mind reader like his sister so he didn't know what she was telling him. "Something wrong girl?" The wolf barked and started to walk off, before she turned and whined. Atherin guessed that she wanted him to follow her. He got up and did so. The wolf turned and looked at him again, before bounding a few yards ahead.

Atherin jogged to keep up with the wolf. He couldn't see her any more, and was wondering what she was going. The wolf turned and bounded into the bushes, hidden from Atherin. Atherin followed her into underbrush. He looked around, but couldn't find her. She just couldn't have disappeared!

The wolf was gone, but in the tree above him was a white and blue owl with glowing red eyes; the same that Raven had seen before Atherin jumped down on him. It hooted loudly, fanning its white and pale blue wings. Atherin looked up to the owl when he heard it. He gave it a confused look...as owls were more active at night. Perhaps he had just startled it... He looked around for the wolf again, but couldn't find hide or tail of her. The owl hooted when Atherin turned away, before it dove down towards him. It flew past Atherin, its feathers just touching him, before it simply vanished. Atherin turned to look at the owl when its feathers touched him. He had the feeling that it did that on purpose. He looked for the owl but couldn't see the owl any where.

There was a slight rustling in the bush beside Atherin. A large, white object was making the leaves rustle. Atherin looked to the bush that was moving. All he could see was white so he thought it was the wolf again. The thing moved, and he could see red eyes looking back at him. It rustled the leaves again, but didn't make any noise besides that. After seeing that the white object wasn't coming to him, he knew that it wasn't the wolf he had seen earlier. He was curious as to what it was, but not that curious to actually go find out for himself.

The thing started moving, and slithered out of the bush. It revealed itself to be a very large python. It looked right at Atherin, but didn't hiss or try to bite or anything. "Holy--!" Atherin nearly shouted, falling backwards. He hadn't expected a rather **large** snake to come out. How many animals did Donnie _**have**_ out here! He'd have to ask about it later.... The snake looked at him, flicking its tongue in and out. It slithered a little closer to Atherin, but didn't make any aggressive movies.

Atherin calmed down after seeing that the snake wasn't making any aggressive moves toward him. He watched as the snake slithered closer to him. The snake continued flicking its tongue in and out, slithering over to his hand. It flicked its tongue out, brushing it against his finger. That tickled a little, but Atherin didn't pull his hand back for fear of agitating the snake. The snake edged a little closer, flicking its tongue in and out more quickly, which tickled Atherin even more. Atherin laughed quietly when the snake tickled him more. "Y-You're doing that on purpose!" The snake moved a little closer, 'tickling' him more.

Atherin chuckled a little more. The snake was still tickling him and as he didn't want to upset the snake and be constricted by it he just let it continue. The snake moved a little closer, pushing its nose against his hand. Atherin hesitated, but stroked the top of the huge snake's head. He was careful to not agitate it. The snake started flicking its tongue in and out again. It was the closest thing to wagging its tail or purring that it could do. Atherin relaxed a little more when he saw that the snake was awfully friendly. He continued to pet the snake, but made sure to not make her mad.

The snake edged a little closer, making a soft hiss. She flicked her tongue in and out, nosing his hand again. "Again?" Atherin asked as he did what the snake wanted him to do. What was with him and animals today? The snake yawned, showing hundreds of golden teeth, before she nosed him again. She started flicking her tongue in and out again, moving a little closer.

Atherin grew a little nervous when he saw all her sharp teeth, but she didn't look like she was going to attack him any time soon. He pet her again, starting to wonder what the others were doing. The snake wrapped a little around his wrist, 'tickling' his arm with her tongue. Atherin chuckled again before petting her again. "I've never met a snake that...actually wants to be seen before... You...must be pretty confident huh?" The snake coiled further up his arm, nodding slightly, as if in answer.

Atherin thought he saw the snake nod in answer to his question. "Now...don't you try anything funny." He said as he stroked her down her scaly back. The snake nodded again, flicking its tongue in and out happily as he stroked her. She coiled a little further up his arm, but didn't put any pressure on him. Atherin didn't see her nodding again at his request. He could feel her coil a little further up his arm, but hardly put any pressure on him. He continued to pet her, but not really paying too much attention to the snake coiled on his arm.

The snake cocked its head slightly, nosing him, not liking that he wasn't paying attention to her. She hissed quietly, trying to get his attention. Atherin looked back to the snake when he heard her hiss at him. "...Sorry... I was just making sure nothing would sneak up on me... I was attacked here last week and nearly killed..." It took him a moment to realize that he was talking to a snake, but he couldn't help it. It was a habit that he had formed while out on his own. Besides...she wouldn't be saying anything about it to anyone.

The snake cocked her head and nodded, as if in understanding. She coiled around his arm a little more, arching to look at his neck, before looking down where the silver wound had been. Atherin found the snakes behavior a little odd. It looked like she was inspecting his battle wounds that he received from Rabe. "...I'm...alright now... I've healed..." The snake cocked her head again. She arched her neck up and 'licked' his cheek, before she dropped down to the ground, letting go of him.

"Thanks for your concerns..." Atherin replied. He didn't care that he was talking to a snake. She seemed to understand him for the most part. Besides, it was nice to just talk and have someone listen without interrupting him. The snake hissed softly before she slithered off into the bush, the white and blue snake vanishing quickly.

Atherin watched as the white and blue snake slithered off. He sighed. He didn't want to go back inside just yet, so he just sat there, and watched the fish in the pond. They were probably calling him all sorts of names.... A few minutes passed uneventfully. But there was a sudden rustling in the bush behind him. Suddenly, a white blur jumped out and jumped on Atherin, yipping playfully. Atherin yelped in surprise. He wasn't expecting something....fluffy....to jump him from behind. He could tell that it wasn't the wolf as she was much heavier than this so he didn't know what was on top of him.

The unknown animal jumped off him, walking around to his front. It revealed itself to be a small, white fox, with a pale blue stripe down its back. It cocked its head and yipped, blinking bright red eyes. Atherin looked at the fox in surprise. Was he an animal magnet today! It had crossed his mind earlier that _all_ the animals he had seen had the same colorings but he didn't care. He didn't need to hold his hand out to see if she was friendly, he could guess just well enough. The fox jumped it his lap, putting her paws on his chest so she could lick his face.

"Whoa!" Atherin replied as he went tumbling onto his back when the fox jumped onto him. He 'tried' to protect himself from being licked to death, but wasn't having very much luck at it. The fox pushed her way through his arms and licked his face, wagging her tail and yipping loudly. "O-Okay! I g-get it!" Atherin said as he pet the determined fox to try and get her to calm down. The fox stopped licking him and made a purr-like noise. She licked at his hand, wagging her tail. Atherin continued to pet her. He tried to sit up, but wasn't too sure if the fox would let him up. The fox jumped off him, letting him up. She bounded around him, yipping playfully. Atherin sat up, and stretched out. He watched the fox bound around him as she yipped playfully. The fox yipped and jumped in his lap again, licking him.

Atherin got the hint and started to pet her again. "You're not very skittish are ya girl?" He asked as he pulled the fox into a hug as well. The fox yipped and licked his face and throat, wagging her tail happily and making an almost coo-like noise. Atherin continued to pet her, but didn't let go of his hug. He felt comfortable with the fox as well. The fox yipped and continued licking his face and neck, wagging her tail rapidly and pawing him playfully. Atherin didn't know what she wanted exactly. He had never played with a wild animal before, talk to them yes, but never played with them. The fox yipped and jumped off him, sitting on her haunches. She cocked her head at him, wagging her tail still. "I wonder where all you animals are coming from... Stay here girl. I'll be right back, okay?" Atherin asked as he stood up. The fox nodded, yipping in understanding...

Atherin walked back inside Horai. He looked around trying to find Donnie. He wandered into the living area and found not only Donnie but Raven and Ryoko. He walked over to them and stood behind one of the couches. "...Hey Donnie...?" Donnie jumped and nearly fell off the couch. But he calmed down quickly. "Oh... what is it, Atherin?" "....What kind of animals do you have in your garden besides the fish?" The vampire asked. "Animals?" Donnie said, "I don't have any animals, besides a pair of black garden snakes, a few frogs and salamanders, a couple lizards and some occasional birds, why?" Donnie answered. "...Odd... Are you sure those are all the animals that are here?" Donnie nodded. "Yeah... the only animals there are the ones my Uncle Daniel brought up..."

He knew that he didn't imagine those animals. However, he wasn't about to tell them that he had just met a wolf and a seven foot python. That would get him a mixed reaction. Atherin thought for a moment, unsure of what to say to explain his out of the blue question. "....If you're that positive that there aren't any other animals, then I'm sorry for bothering you." Atherin said as he started back toward the garden.

Raven got up from the couch and followed Atherin. He caught up to him quickly. "Dracula, why did you ask Donnie that?" "...Well....I just wanted to make sure of what types of animals he had... Last I...knew...Donnie didn't have a fox on Horai...." Atherin replied, not too sure if he should tell Raven all of the animals he had met. Raven blinked. "You saw a fox?" "...Yeah... Why?" Atherin asked, but already knew the answer. "Well... Donnie doesn't have a fox, and there's **no** way a fox can get up here..." Raven said. "I know...that's what has me confused. I thought at first I was just imagining it, but I wasn't..." "Well, there's only one way to find out..." Raven said.

Atherin nodded as he and Raven went out to the garden. He went to where he had left the fox, hoping that she'd still be there. Raven looked around. "I don't see any animals, let alone this fox, Atherin..." "She was here before I left. She IS a fox...she's not just gonna sit and waif for me to return." Raven rolled his eyes, not really believing Atherin had really found a fox. As he was preoccupied looking for the 'fox', the large white snake lowered down to his level from a branch. She hissed and snapped at Raven, nipping the back of his neck. Raven yelped and spun around, and found himself face to face with the massive snake. "Atherin!" he shouted, falling back in surprise, holding the back of his neck where he had been 'bitten'.

Atherin spun around when he heard Raven yell. He saw the snake from earlier dangling in front of him. He walked over to where Raven was and removed his hand from the back of his neck to check him over. "You're fine. She only nipped at you." He replied as he stood back up and walked over to the snake. "That wasn't a very nice trick you played." He chided as he held his hand out to her. The snake 'licked' his hand and rubbed her head against his hand, as if she was very happy to see him back.

Atherin obliged to what she wanted from him and pet her head, his hand going as high as he could reach on his tip toes. "Jeez Raven... How can you think she's scary? That is unless...you're a chicken?" Atherin smirked. Raven glared at Atherin and got up. "She surprised me..." Raven shot back. "Of course she did... Just keep telling yourself that." Atherin snickered as he continued to pet the massive snake.

The snake flicked her tongue in and out and continued to rub her head against his hand. Raven sighed. "Okay, she scared me. When I was three I was bitten by a snake and nearly died, okay? So I'm uneasy around snakes. Not to mention nearly getting swallowed by that monster Serrer didn't help either..." Atherin stopped petting the snake when he mentioned Serrer. He didn't want Raven to know but he still trusted her with his life. The snake turned and hissed loudly at Raven, barring its hundreds of razor-sharp, golden teeth. "I don't think she liked your comment about snakes, Raven."

"It's a stupid snake! It can't understand me!" Raven snapped. The snake hissed at him again, and went so far as to snap at him. "I beg to differ Raven. She seems to understand you just fine to me." Atherin replied as he tried to placate the serpent. The snake dropped down from the tree, hissing at Raven before turning back to Atherin. Raven rolled his eyes, stepping away from the large snake. Atherin sat down on the ground when the snake turned to him. He was perfectly fine with handling her. The snake arched up and wrapped around his arm, hissing quietly. Raven looked at the snake in disgust. "How can you let it touch you like that?"

"Raven...she's just a snake. She's not slimy or anything. She's not even putting any pressure as she wraps around me." Atherin said. "Yeah, until she tried to eat you..." Raven said. The snake had crept a little more up his arm and made a coil around him middle, but wasn't putting any pressure on him. "...I'm too big for her to eat Raven..." Atherin pointed out. Yeah, knew that she could kill him if she wanted to, but she wouldn't be able to swallow him whole. "Yeah, for her to eat, but she could still kill you..." Raven said, watching the snake cautiously. "She could, but if she wanted to she'd have done so by now." Atherin said. Raven rolled his eyes. "Still, I don't understand how you can just _let_ her do that..."

"I'm not at all bothered by it. She hasn't shown any aggression...toward me." Atherin added quickly when he saw Raven open his mouth to argue with him. Raven glared at him. The snake uncoiled from around Atherin and slithered back into the bushes, but not before it hissed and snapped at Raven a last time. "I think you made her really angry Raven." Atherin smirked.

"Shut up Dracula..." Raven snapped. He hated snakes, and being nearly bitten in the neck by one wasn't his idea of fun. Suddenly the bushes started rustling, something relatively large moving through them. Atherin looked to where the bushes were rustling. It sounded big so he guessed that it was the wolf again. He hoped it was. He somehow felt safe with her.

Raven stepped back, unsure if this thing was dangerous or not. Before he could react, the wolf burst out of the bushes and lunged at him, making him yelp and fall back in surprise. The wolf pinned him and snarled, trying to bite him. "Atherin! Get it off me!" Atherin got up and went over to where Raven was. He pulled the wolf off of Raven, she didn't even turn to snap and bite at him. The wolf calmed down immediately, turning and licking Atherin. Raven sat up and stared at him. "What the hell is it with you and animals today?"

Atherin shrugged at Raven's question. He had asked himself that same question earlier. He patted the wolf, keeping her from getting at Raven again. "I don't know... I guess I'm just likable today." The wolf continued licking his face, wagging her tail and barking happily. Raven rolled his eyes. "Yeah right..." "You're just not an animal person Raven... I think they can see that in you..." Atherin joked, as he continued to pet the wolf. "Animals normally like me... but there's something off about that wolf and that snake..." "I'd watch what you say Raven. She might snap at you for that comment." "But seriously Atherin..." Raven said, looking at the wolf, "Since when do wolves have blue fur? And red eyes? And gold claws and teeth?" "I don't know Raven. I've learned not to question things...." Atherin replied quietly. "But it isn't natural!" Raven said, "It's like that owl I saw the other night..." "What owl?" Atherin asked.

"The one that caught my attention before you scared me half to death... it had the same color scheme as this wolf, and that snake..." Raven answered. "I saw that owl earlier today.... It flew off though..." Atherin said. "These animals aren't natural... I think they're dangerous...." Raven said. "...All animals are dangerous Raven.... And, I do admit that I noticed this pattern as well..." Atherin said quietly. "Yeah well, these animals are more aggressive than normal... I think we should leave..." Raven said. "Alright, alright. We'll leave..." Atherin said as he stood up. The wolf whined loudly, rubbing against Atherin's legs, as if she didn't want him to go. "I'm sorry girl. But I gotta go... Be good for me okay?" He said as he patted her one last time, as he waited for Raven. The wolf whined again, before she bounded off into the bushes. Raven turned to lead the way back.

Atherin followed after Raven. He wondered what Raven would tell Donnie, and if those animals would really be there tomorrow. "I don't know where those animals came from, but they weren't there last night, or the entire time we've been here..." Raven said, looking back at him. "....Figured as much..." Atherin replied quietly. "What do you mean by that?" Raven asked. "...Ryoko or I would have felt their presence by now..." Raven nodded. "So _**where**_ did they come from, and why did they try to attack me?" He asked. "I don't know Raven... I just don't know, but....for whatever reason....I felt....safe with them... I can't place why though...."

Raven stopped and turned around. "Safe? That snake tried to latch onto my neck, and that wolf about ripped out my throat! And you felt **SAFE** with them!" Atherin knew that he should have just kept his mouth shut about that. He had just _told_ Raven that he couldn't place _why_! "Look Raven, I don't know why. So please don't look at me like I'm some sort of.....animal...." Raven sighed. "Sorry Atherin... I didn't mean to snap at you like that..." "...It's okay... I can...understand where you're coming from..." The vampire said quietly. Raven nodded. "I still shouldn't have snapped..." Atherin sighed. "Raven, it's past. You've already said 'sorry' so let's just continue on our way." Raven nodded. "So... what were you doing in the garden in the first place?" "Sleeping." Atherin answered.

"I knew I should have checked here..." Raven groaned. "Don't expect me to use it again as a hide away sleeping spot." Atherin said. "I know..." Raven said, "And you better not paralyze me again..." Atherin chuckled slightly. "Well you were asking for it." "Yeah well, don't do it again..." Raven said. "It's not like it hurt you, and it only lasted a minute." Atherin tried to defend. "Still... I didn't like it..." Raven replied. "Well next time, you'll think twice about trying to wake me. I'll stuff you in a broom closet gagged and bound next time." Atherin smirked slightly. Raven rolled his eyes. "You better not... Donnie will kick you off of Horai if you did that..."

Atherin just shook his head. He doubted Donnie would do such a thing. "So...what were you and Donnie talking to Ryoko about when I walked in?" "Who was going to be Ryoko's 'donor'..." "And was a decision made?" Atherin asked curiously. Raven nodded. "Yeah, Donnie is going to let her 'feed' off of him..." Atherin didn't know what to say exactly... Didn't either of them know that it was Donnie that Ryoko liked a lot? Raven looked at Atherin oddly. "Something wrong?"

"No. Nothing's wrong..." Atherin answered quickly. Raven narrowed his eyes. "Seriously, you're a horrible liar..." Atherin sighed. "...Well...remember when Ryoko made me listen to her...'girl' talk?" Raven nodded. "Yeah? What about it?" "...Do you remember me telling you that she likes one of you...a lot...?" Atherin questioned further.

Raven looked at him, putting two and two together. "... Are you serious?" Atherin nodded. He was serious. "Great... Shadow has a mate, and now your sister has a crush on my brother..." Raven groaned. "...Looks like we really might be 'in-laws' in the future." Atherin joked, knowing he was getting under Raven's skin. Raven punched Atherin's arm. "Shut it Dracula..." Atherin chuckled at Raven. He knew he was treading on thin ice with this topic, but he wouldn't take it too far. "What's wrong? Don't wanna be 'in-laws'?" He asked, mock pouting.

Raven glared at him. "Just shut it before I punch you again..." Atherin started laughing a little harder. He wouldn't make any more comments but he knew Raven would stew on this topic for a while and torture himself. Raven sighed. Things had gotten so crazy lately. He was getting to the point that nothing really surprised him anymore.....

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_**Author's Note:**_ Well that's it for chapter 38! A bit of a confusing chapter, but I promise that it WILL become clear at a later date! Hmm…I actually don't remember what happens next in my notes, so I'm in for as much of a surprise as you guys are! :D And before I forget, ShadowRebirth37 and I started a new collab fic called 'Perfect Soldier'. If you're interested, give it a look! Please Review! They make my day! :)


	39. The Village

_**Disclaimer 1: **__I do NOT own Zoids!_

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe__, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul, Rika, Avea, Serrer and Libelle do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME**__ as do the towns Redai and Jurei._

_**Author's Note:**_ It's a new chapter! In the last chapter poor Atherin had to deal with all those strange animals and had to protect Raven from one mean snake ;p What does this chapter have in store for them? You'll just have to wait and find out!

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Ͽ The Village Ͼ

The day passed without much more incident, and the evening and night also passed without anything interesting happening. Morning soon came again. Atherin was still sleeping but his sister was not. She was already up and sitting in the living area. Donnie was up as well. He was usually up before anyone else. He walked into the living area and saw Ryoko. "Oh, hello Ryoko..." he greeted her, "You're up early..."

"Good morning Donnie." She greeted back. "I'm sometimes up early. It was one of those nights where a vampire just can't sleep." She tried to explain.

"That's okay..." Donnie said, "I'm usually alone for a few hours before Joyce drags Atherin out of bed, so some company is nice..."

Ryoko giggled when Donnie said that. She knew that it was true. "Well I'm glad that I can keep you some company until those two wake up."

Donnie nodded. "Avea usually follows me around some mornings, but she's been sleeping in with Shadow recently..."

"It must have been pretty lonely for you until they came here. ...Atherin's told me what's been happening..."

Donnie nodded. "It was definitely a lot quieter before those two came..."

She laughed again. "I bet it was. I wouldn't call Atherin the quiet one out of us, but he wasn't too talkative as a little kid. Tyme was always arguing with him for his own amusement and he usually just listened to me when I talked with him. After being on his own for five years, I would have thought him to be a little quieter."

"He and Joyce are always arguing with each other, so I find that hard to believe..." Donnie said.

"There weren't too many kids around Atherin's age in our village. They were all either older or younger then him, so he didn't socialize too much. He had friends, but they were all older than he was."

Donnie nodded. "It's still a little hard to believe he was quiet, seeing him now..."

"Yeah... It surprised me too. But I'm glad to see him talkative now."Ryoko said.

"I don't think I've ever seen him and Joyce quiet..." Donnie said.

"With the way things are, I don't think you will." Ryoko joked.

"Probably not..." Donnie said, tending to the orchid on the table. Ryoko watched as Donnie tended to the delicate flower. She liked flowers too and had her own garden back at the place she currently called home.

Donnie looked up from the flower. "So, what were you doing in that flower shop when Joyce went for the Aluru root, Ryoko?"

"I was just picking up some more flowers and herbs to make my medicine. In order for me to 'make a living' like you humans, I sell some of the medicine I make."

Donnie nodded. "You'll have to ask Ibeyla to show you how to make some of her medicines. She's an Ancient Zoidian, and knows a lot of their medicine that most humans don't know..."

"Vampire medicine is also different from human and Zoidian medicine. I think my mom and dad taught me some Zoidian medicine as well... They were over 200 years old... My grandparents also taught me much older medicines too as they were nearing 600 something years..."

Donnie nodded. "You'll have to look around in the library here; I think I have a Zoidian and a vampire medicine book. I'm sure you'll find something new in there..."

"...I won't be able to read the Zoidian book... Ibeyla or you would have to translate for me. And I'll go check out that vampire book later." Ryoko replied.

"I'm sure Ibeyla would be more than happy to help you..." Donnie said. Ryoko nodded. She looked back to the orchid. She seemed a little more tense that usual. Donnie noticed this and looked up from the flower. "Is something wrong, Ryoko?" he asked.

"...I've never had to ask for blood before... I just usually...take..." Ryoko said a little lightly.

Donnie blinked. "Do you need some?" he asked, unsure of what she was getting at.

"...Yeah... I was hoping that it would hold off until tomorrow, but I guess not..." Ryoko said quietly.

Donnie walked over and sat down beside her. He held out his left hand. "It's alright, I don't mind..."

"Thanks Donnie. I promise it doesn't hurt. You'll hardly feel a thing." She reassured him.

Donnie nodded. "Joyce said the same thing..." he said, knowing she wouldn't hurt him. She gave him a reassuring smile before she gently bit down into Donnie's offered wrist. Donnie turned away, not wanting to watch. He didn't feel any pain, like both Ryoko and Joyce had said.

After a few minutes did she pull away. She couldn't heal the wound directly like Atherin could, but she did have a medicine that could heal it with in a few minutes. She pulled out a gourd and uncorked it. She applied a little to the puncture wounds. "There. That should heal those within a few minutes. It'll sting a little, but not too bad."

Donnie nodded and looked at the punctures. The medicine stung a little, but not too much. "Thanks Ryoko..."

"I should be thanking you Donnie." Ryoko replied as she re-corked the gourd.

"It's alright. Whenever you need blood, all you have to do is ask me..." Donnie replied.

"Thanks Donnie. I'm glad you're a little more opened minded about the first bite than Raven was."

Donnie nodded. "It didn't hurt, so I don't see why my brother was so freaked out by it..."

"I think Atherin said that he had scared him badly a few hours before. It was when they weren't on good terms with each other..." Ryoko replied.

"Well...considering Atherin scared us both the other night, I can see that happening..." Donnie mused.

"But you knew then that he wasn't serious. This was when the both of them didn't like the other. So I imagine that it was even worse..."

"I bet..." Donnie said, "But Joyce did have the habit of getting under peoples' skin..."

"So Atherin's told me." Ryoko chuckled.

Donnie chuckled as well. "At least they aren't trying to kill each other now..."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure if things didn't get better between them, Atherin would've left."

Donnie nodded. "I'm glad that didn't happen..." Ryoko nodded as well. She was glad that that didn't happen as well. She looked over to the clock, it was now nearing ten.

ϡϡϡϡϡ

Meanwhile, Raven had woken up. He got up and walked to Atherin's room. He knocked on the door. "Hey Dracula, wakey, wakey!" He didn't receive any answer from Atherin. He was either ignoring him or in a deep sleep. Raven sighed and knocked on the door harder. "Hey Dracula, get up!" There was still no answer. Raven was getting angry that Atherin was more than likely ignoring him. Raven banged on the door harder. "Atherin! Get up now!"

Raven could hear a chuckle coming down the hall. "You're wasting your breath Raven. I'm not in there."

Raven turned around and saw him. "When did you get up, Dracula?" he asked.

"About half an hour ago. My stomach beat you to waking me up..." Atherin replied, shrugging slightly.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Damn..."

"You'll live Raven. Now, are you gonna stand outside my door yelling? Or go get yourself some breakfast?" Atherin asked.

"I already ate..." Raven said.

"...You need to eat more than just one item Raven... You'll get sick easily if you don't eat more." The vampire chided, slightly teasingly.

Raven rolled his eyes. "I'll live..."

"...So you say... However, I'm not gonna stand here to talk, I'm going back to the kitchen." Atherin said as he walked over. Raven decided to follow him, not having anything better to do. Atherin returned to the kitchen and sat back down at the table. There was still some food left on the table incase Raven wanted to help himself. Raven instead went to the fridge and got another apple. He sat down at the table and started eating it.

"What? My cooking not good enough for you?" Atherin joked as he continued his breakfast.

Raven shook his head no. "I just wanted an apple is all..."

"I thought you didn't like apples?" Atherin questioned.

"I don't, but I don't really care at the moment..." Raven replied.

"...That doesn't make any sense... If there's food on the table then why not eat it?"

Raven shrugged. "I don't know..." he said, taking another bite of the apple.

"...Sometimes you confuse me..." Atherin sighed as he continued eating.

"Yeah, you're one to talk..." Raven muttered.

"I forgot who I was talking too..."

Raven rolled his eyes and took another bite of the apple. "So, anything you want to do today?"

"Not that I can think of... There's only so much we can do on Horai... Perhaps we can go into town for a little while? Just for a change of scenery?"

"And do what?" Raven asked.

"I don't know. But I'm tired of being stuck on Horai..." Atherin whined slightly.

"Me too... maybe we can go into Alca for a little while..."

"Yeah... It'd be nice to be outside and stretch my legs out more than what Donnie's little garden does."

"I'm not going out there for awhile, after getting attacked by a snake and that wolf..." Raven muttered.

"I understand where you're coming from. Well...we might as well not wait here all day. Let me just clean this up and then we can go." Atherin said as he stood up to clean his mess. Raven threw away the core of the apple and waited for Atherin to finish. Atherin finished cleaning up before he went to get the 'Demonsbane'. He met Raven in front of the medical facility.

Raven looked up when Atherin came back. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah. Let's get going." Atherin replied as they headed toward the hanger where Azel was. Raven followed Atherin to the hanger. Shadow was curled up at the BFSE's feet, and immediately went over to Raven when he entered. Azel bounded over to Atherin. He didn't tackle him like Atherin thought he would, but he wasn't complaining. Eiji rumbled happily as they entered and Atherin had to quiet him down before they left. Shadow licked Raven before she calmed down. Raven waited for Atherin to finish with Eiji so they could leave. Atherin got Eiji and Azel to calm down before Azel absorbed Atherin. He waited for Shadow to do the same with Raven. Shadow quickly absorbed Raven and took wing. Azel followed suit and they both touched down a little ways outside of town. They didn't want to startle the town's people with them just swooping down out of nowhere. Shadow released Raven and curled up. She didn't like crowds and was going to stay behind. Azel released Atherin and curled up as well in the shade. Atherin gave to two Organoids an amused look, before turning to Raven to go into town.

Raven looked at Atherin. "Did you bring any gold if you see something?"

"Yeah I brought some gold." Atherin answered as they walked into town.

"Me too..." Raven said, "Now... what do you want to do?"

"I don't know... Just walk around I guess... Who knows what we will find if we just wander around."

"I guess so..." Raven said, "But I'm a little nervous. Ibeyla had a bad dream last night, so I have a sinking feeling that something bad is going to happen..."

"...We'll just have to be on our guards then... We don't want Rabe or Driacoul sneaking up on us again..." Atherin replied as they passed some merchants trying to sell them trinkets.

"Ibeyla said it wasn't any of the Organoids in the dream that hurt us, it was a person..."

"...A person...?" That worried Atherin a little. He was already uneasy being in a human town, but hardly ever let it show. He just hoped that it wasn't something too serious.

Raven nodded. "Someone Ibeyla had never seen before. So, we'll have to be on our guard..."

"Yeah... We'll have to be careful." Atherin replied as they continued to just walk aimlessly around Alca's market. They were unaware, however, the person keeping an eye on them.

"So... are there any shops you want to look at?" Raven suggested, trying to get off the depressing topic.

Atherin thought for a moment. Was there something he wanted to look at? "Could we possibly go look at some pendants or jewelry?"

Raven turned and looked at him. "Why?"

"Ryoko's birthday is coming up soon. I wanted to make her something, but I used up the rest of the metal in making her armband... And at the moment buying just the metal would cost more than what you and I both have."

"Okay... do you know where those shops are? Because I don't..."

"...No...I don't know where they'd be... Last time we came here we went straight to the weapon shop... We'll just have to wander around until we find them..." Raven nodded, and started looking around for the jewelry shop. He couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched... They looked around some more before finally finding what Atherin was looking for. He made sure to avoid anything that even had an ounce of silver in it. While he looked, and Raven pretended to not know him, neither noticed the person that was still watching them.

Raven glanced in at Atherin, before something caught his eye. He walked over to it, and looked at it closer. It was a small bracelet, with a red charm in the shape of a flower on it. "Atherin... come here..."

Atherin looked to where Raven was and went over to where he was. "What is it?"

"This, it has Red Magnite in it..." Raven said quietly, "Judging by how little they're asking for it, they probably don't know what it is..."

Atherin looked at the little bracelet with it's Red Magnite charm. Ryoko did tell him that she wished she could find some and he wasn't going to pass up the opportunity if it was sitting right there in front of him. "I think she'll like it. She likes the color red." Atherin said out loud, alerting the shop keeper that he was interested in buying something. He knew what it was, but he needed to talk normally to Raven to not arise any suspicions.

"That's a nice piece that you're picking out for your girlfriend." The store keeper said.

"H-Hold it! She's not my girlfriend! She's my sister! Her birthday's coming up!" Atherin explained. The keeper just chuckled but wrapped up the Red Magnite charm and asked for payment. Atherin handed him what he owed and then put the Red Magnite in a safe place. They started to walk away when he asked Raven what he wanted to do. "Anywhere you want to go?"

Raven thought for a second. "Not really..." he said.

"I don't want to go back so soon... There's nothing to do there..." Atherin complained a little, both still unaware of the person following them. He wanted to make sure he was positive about it before he did anything rash...

"I don't either... but what else do you want to do?"

"I don't know... I think just a day out is good enough for me."

"Yeah..." Raven agreed.

As Atherin and Raven continued to just walk around the busy streets of Alca, they soon found themselves in the square. They were going to take a break on one of the benches when someone called out to them...well...more like Atherin in particular... "Hey! Vampire! What the hell are you doing in a _**human**_ town! Did you come here to feast!"

Raven immediately turned to Atherin. "Atherin, what did you do?"

"I didn't do any thing! This is only the second time I've been to Alca!" Atherin replied clearly starting to panic. How did this human know what he was! A crowd was starting to form, the people wondering what was going on.

"Well apparently you did _something_!" Raven said under his breath, looking at the growing crowd nervously.

"B-But I'm always careful when I go into a human town!" Atherin replied just as quietly. He was getting nervous too as the crowd started to grow again.

"You damned monster! I remember killing you with a sword five years ago! Why can't you and your damned race just die!" The man yelled at Atherin.

Raven looked over at Atherin. "Friend of yours?"

"Y-You're not helping Raven!" Atherin replied quietly but clearly panicked now. The crowd around them had encircled them, their mutterings getting more and more excitable and...murderous...

"What are we supposed to do?" Raven asked, putting his hand on his silver knife.

"...I don't know... W-We can't kill them..." Atherin said quietly as he also got ready for a fight. The tension finally snapped and the man that had started this mess took the first aggressive move. He threw some sort of 'charm' at Atherin, and even though he had avoided it, it honed in on him and attached itself to him. He could immediately feel himself getting weaker, just like when he was at the village.

Raven turned and tried to pull the charm off of Atherin. But it was stuck fast. "Atherin, how do I get this damned thing off!"

Before Atherin could answer they were attacked again. A sword came slashing down on them. They both managed to avoid it, but ended up separating themselves. Atherin was just as fast as Raven was, which he wasn't use to. He was trapped again, between the hunter that wanted to kill him and the mob that was starting to join in. Raven wasn't having any more luck that he was; some of the villagers had ganged up on him for helping the 'monster'.

Raven backed away from the people, but he could only back up so far before one of the people slashed at him with a knife, cutting his arm. He yelped and pulled out his knife, which drove the people back a few feet.

Atherin didn't have the luxury of pulling out the 'Demonsbane' to protect himself with. It was too heavy for him to hold and it was slowing him down even more than he already was. That cost him as the 'hunter' took another slash at him, making a deep cut on his right arm. He couldn't back away from him either for the crowd had formed a separate circle around him and the 'hunter', leaving Raven in the other circle.

Raven held his arm, trying to stop the bleeding. "Shadow!" he called, and within seconds his Organoid appeared, snarling and beating her wings at the crowds. They scrambled away from her, not wanting to chance a bite.

Atherin was having trouble getting his arm to stop bleeding. He dodged another slash of the sword before he too called for Azel. "Azel!" Azel appeared even faster than Shadow had. He took a blow meant for Atherin, the sword breaking against his armor. He roared loudly, doing a tail whip that didn't hit any one but made them back up considerably. He beat his wings much like Shadow did to make the people back up further.

Shadow growled and snapped at the people, snarling and lashing her tail. She crouched down, and Raven got onto her back. She flew up into the air over to Atherin. "Atherin, come on! We need to get out of here!" Raven shouted, still holding his arm.

Atherin nodded as Azel lowered for him to climb on. When he was set Azel flew up next to Shadow. "Come on Azel! Let's get outta here!" Azel roared and took off. Shadow snarled and took off after him. She didn't fly as fast as she could, for Raven couldn't hold on properly with his wounded arm.

Azel pulled up along side Shadow. "...I guess that was what Ibeyla's nightmare was about..."

Raven nodded. "That's the last time we can go into town..."

"...Yeah..." Atherin said quietly. He still couldn't figure out how that man was able to recognize him, especially if he thought that he had killed him... Raven groaned and grabbed at his arm. Shadow's back was now covered in blood, the deep gash on Raven's arm bleeding profusely.

Azel's back was covered in blood as well, but Atherin made no moves to try and stop it. He knew that he wouldn't be able to and until he could get the 'charm' off of him he'd be unable to 'heal'. "...Raven...? Do you think we should stop to take care of these wounds before we get back to Horai?"

Raven nodded. "Y-yeah, I'm starting to get dizzy..." Raven responded, Shadow beginning to lower towards the ground. Azel started to lower as well. Both Organoids touched down at relatively the same time. Atherin slowly got off Azel, using him to keep himself standing. Shadow lowered herself fully to the ground. Raven got off shakily, but collapsed after only a few seconds. Atherin shakily walked over to where Raven was. He couldn't waste time trying to get the 'charm' off him so he had to use the only thing that would heal them both. He took out the bracelet that he had bought for Ryoko and held it to Raven's gash.

The gash healed quickly, but Raven had lost a lot of blood. He couldn't get back up, not having the strength. Atherin then took care of his own wounds, his gash also healing, but not fully like Raven's had. The 'charm' was interfering with the Red Magnite's healing properties. It would just have to do for now. He couldn't give Raven any blood this time or he'd end up attacking Raven again. The best thing that they could do at the moment was to just wait it out. Raven managed to sit up and leaned against Shadow. He was weakened severely by the blood loss. He just hoped that the blade hadn't been poisoned...

Azel curled around Atherin. He was trying to get the charm off him, but it wasn't working. He had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to remove it until they reached Horai and asked Ibeyla or Donnie about it. Perhaps one of them knew how to remove it... Shadow whined loudly and licked at Raven's arm where the gash had been. She curled around him, whining again.

Azel continued his nitpicking of the charm. "...Azel just leave it... It's not coming off anytime soon..." Azel sighed, but laid his head down on Atherin's lap. Shadow started licking Raven, whining loudly, clearly upset. Raven managed to pet her, which calmed her down considerably. Azel wrapped around Atherin a little more. It was his way of reassuring him that he wouldn't let him get hurt again. Atherin pat him, which caused Azel to click some before quieting down to keep an ear out for any one that was approaching them.

Raven looked over at Atherin. "Hey D-Dracula... we b-better get back to Horai before t-they come looking for us..." Atherin nodded. He didn't want to be in this area with an angry mob of people that were...'hunting'...him. Azel uncurled from around Atherin before standing up. Atherin got up as well and got on Azel's back when he lowered himself. Shadow absorbed Raven, not taking any chances. She spread her wings and flew into the air. Azel took off after her, keeping up with her and yet not losing Atherin in the process. They soon arrived at Horai's hanger and Azel let Atherin off.

Shadow released Raven, and as soon as the cords and cables slipped off him he collapsed. He had lost a lot of blood, and was close to passing out. Atherin knelt down over Raven. He knew that he didn't have the strength to carry him to the medical room. Shadow would have to do that. "...Shadow...? Can you carry him to the medical room?" Shadow nodded and picked him up. She started towards the medical room.

Atherin and Azel followed after her. Azel was making sure that Atherin didn't collapse on the way there. They got to the medical room and Shadow laid Raven down on one of the beds while Atherin went to get medical tape for his wound. He had Azel him wrap it up before he took the bed next to Raven's. Shadow whined and nosed Raven, before she left the room, leaving Raven, Atherin and Azel. "...Azel... Go find Ibeyla...and bring her here..." Atherin said. Azel clicked before he went out of the medical room to look for Ibeyla.

A few minutes later both Shadow and Azel returned with Ibeyla. She immediately gave Raven a few sips of her medicine to counteract the blood loss. After he was tended to, she walked over to Atherin. "Atherin, where did this 'charm' come from?"

"...A 'hunter'... We...we were...ambushed while we were in Alca today... The whole town's in an uproar because he decided to yell at me in front of everyone in the town square..."

Ibeyla sighed. "I knew I shouldn't have let you two go into town today..." she sighed, "Now... let me get this 'charm' off of you..." she said, putting her hand over the charm. She closed her eyes for a second before she opened them again. "Freigabe..." she spoke in Zoidian, and the paper immediately peeled off of him when she pulled it. "There you go Atherin..."

"Thanks Ibeyla... I'm glad to get it off me..." He said quietly.

"No problem..." Ibeyla said, crumpling up the piece of paper.

Atherin lied back down on the bed. He removed the medical tape he had wrapped his arm up in and used an energy transfer to finish 'sealing' it. "...Why can't people be like you, Raven, Karl and Donnie?"

Ibeyla sighed. "It's because people are afraid of what they don't understand..." Atherin just looked blankly at her. He had been treated like a monster again for no apparent reason. He then looked away and rolled over, trying to just forget what had happened.

Ibeyla sighed again. "You know Atherin, what happened wasn't you're fault in the slightest..."

"...I know it wasn't... We had just went to town to keep ourselves entertained... We were minding our own business... It...just hurts when people think that we're 'inhuman'..."

"I know..." Ibeyla said, "But you can't let that get to you. Raven and I don't think that, no one here thinks that, and that should be all that matters..."

Atherin nodded. Ibeyla always knew what to say to make him feel better. "Thanks Ibeyla... You're much better at cheering me up than Raven is."

Ibeyla smiled sweetly. "Anytime Atherin..." she said. Atherin sat back up. He didn't really want to go to sleep and as thus didn't want to stay in the medical facility. Ibeyla walked towards the door. "I'm going to go tell Donnie, Ryoko and everyone what happened. You should get some rest Atherin; it'll take a little time for the effects of that charm to wear off..." Atherin nodded and lied back down. He stayed awake for a few more minutes before the charm effects got the better of him and he was soon out cold….

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_**Author's Note:**_ Ohoho…what's this I see? A little Donnie/Ryoko? ^/^ Just cut us some slack, because neither myself or Ibeyla are any good at romances, so don't be expecting too much but just these little cute interactions! And poor Raven and Atherin, they just go into town for a change of pace and they STILL end up getting hurt ^^; The next chapter's gonna be a fun one! And, June 9th will mark the one year anniversary of this fic! :D Be expecting an update tomorrow! Please leave a review! They make my day!


	40. The Dream

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do NOT own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe__, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul, Rika, Avea, Serrer and Libelle do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME**__ as do the towns Redai and Jurei._

_**Author's Note:**_ Hey everyone! This chapter is to commemorate Crimson Retribution's one year anniversary! I want to thank everyone that has been keeping up with this story and leaving such wonderful reviews! I hope you all like this chapter! And Happy Anniversary Crimson Retribution! X3

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Ͽ The Dream Ͼ

_Raven groaned and woke up. He was dizzy for some reason, and felt really strange. For one thing, his room looked an awful lot bigger, which struck him as really odd... __Atherin had just woken up too. He sat up on his bed and looked around. Nothing looked to be out of place, but he could tell that something was off. Oh well, he wasn't going to stress out about it.__ Raven managed to get out of his room, his door being partly opened. He tried to find Atherin, hoping he knew what had happened. __Atherin was relaxing on his bed still. He didn't know why but he just felt like doing nothing. And, as Raven had yet to bother him, he was making the most out of it.__ Raven reached Atherin's room and knocked on the door. Oddly, he scratched the door, like he had claws..._

_Atherin heard the scratching at his door. He thought perhaps it was Shadow as Azel and Avea could get in without using the door. He got up and opened it, wondering what Raven's Organoid wanted with him. However, when he opened it...there wasn't anyone there. __Raven grew confused when Atherin didn't react to him. He tried to say Atherin's name, but all that came out was a squeak.__ Atherin looked around for what ever had made that noise. He looked down, thinking maybe Avea was trying to get his attention. However...it wasn't Avea he was looking at..._

_Raven looked at Atherin in confusion. '_**Why is he looking at me like that?**_' he thought, before he tried to ask Atherin what was wrong. But again all that came out was a squeak._

_Atherin looked at the hatchling in confusion. As far as he knew Avea was the only hatchling running around. This one was black and had silver markings on its shoulders and hips. He thought he could make out a familiar marking, but it blended in too much for him to be too sure. He knelt down in front of it to get a better look at it. "What an adorable hatchling! Where'd you come from?"_

_Raven about fell over. '_**Hatchling?**_' he thought, looking at himself. His eyes widened when he realized he __WAS__ a hatchling. He turned to Atherin and squeaked at him furiously, hopping up and down. '_**Don't just sit there! Help me!**_' he screamed in his mind._

_"Calm down there! I don't know what it is that you want from me!" Atherin said, trying to get the angry hatchling to calm down. __Raven narrowed his eyes and started screaming at Atherin, using a lot of colorful words. But all that came out were a bunch of squeaks and chirps._

_Atherin looked at the hatchling in confusion. Talking to it wasn't calming it down; maybe it wanted to be petted? He'd try. He reached out his hand in hopes of getting the hatchling to calm down. __Before Raven could stop himself, he started purring and wagging his tail. After a few seconds, he realized what he was doing and snapped out of it. He nipped Atherin's hand and whipped his arm with his tail, squeaking shrilly. _**'Why don't you recognize me?**_' he shouted in his mind._

_"Ouch! Temper mental Organoid..." Atherin grumbled, nursing his welt from where the hatchling's tail had hit him. He didn't know what the hatchling wanted or why it had come to him! __Raven glared at him and growled as threateningly as he could, although he sounded about as threatening as a kitten. He started hopping up and down again, squeaking and chittering loudly._

_"Look, I don't understand what it is that you want from me! You'll have to be a little nicer if you want my help."_

_Raven rolled his eyes. Atherin wasn't helping! "Damnit Atherin, it's me!" he tried to say, but again all that came out was a squeaky cry. He was getting tired of this..._

_Atherin was getting tired of the temper mental hatchling as well. Normally he liked the little things, but when one was giving him a hard time, he didn't want to be the object of the hatchling's anger. He was about to get up and leave, but the one of the hatchling's marks caught his eye again. Before the hatchling could move he tilted its head to get a better look at the marking. __Raven squeaked in anger and tried to wrench himself free. He nipped at Atherin again, beating his wings and lashing his tail angrily. _**'What the Helkat is wrong with you Atherin? Let me go, damnit!'**_ he screamed at Atherin in his mind._

_Atherin didn't let go though. "Hold still will ya? This marking...looks familiar."_

_Raven rolled his eyes. _**'No duh Atherin!**_' he snapped in his head. He growled at Atherin again, although it sounded more like a squeaky rumble. He didn't like being in this position, but currently he couldn't do anything._

_Atherin let go of the hatchling. "...You just can't be..." He said in disbelief._

_Raven nodded. _**'About freaking time, you idiot!**_' he cursed him in his mind._

_Atherin could almost hear what Raven was telling him, just by the look he was receiving. "You can't blame me for not knowing it was you. Take a look yourself." Atherin said as he picked Raven up and took him to the mirror that was in his room._

_"I already know Atherin! Now put me down!" Raven tried to say, but he could only squeak and chirp. He started struggling against the vampire, not liking being held one bit..._

_"I'm not gonna put you down. I doubt you'll be able to keep up with me." Atherin said as he strolled out of his room starting to look for Donnie. He needed to know what happened to his brother so they could look for a way to change him back. Atherin suddenly smirked and looked down to the black hatchling struggling in his arms. "So you liked when I pet you huh? You're Organoid instincts are starting to over rule your human ones." __Raven rolled his eyes. He thought about biting him, but he didn't want to get dropped. He was uncoordinated as it is, and a drop from that height wouldn't do him much good._

_"Even in this form I can still tease you." He joked as he scratched behind Raven's head, wondering how long he'd be able to before he was snapped at again. __Again, Raven purred and wagged his tail, before he sank his tiny teeth into Atherin's finger. He didn't bite hard enough to draw blood, but it was hard enough to get his point across._

_"Alright, alright. I get your point." Atherin said as he withdrew his hand. "You know...I would have thought you to be...bigger...than this..."_

_Raven narrowed his eyes and tried to growl, but it sounded more like a purr. _**'Don't ask me, I don't even know how the hell this happened!'**_ he seethed mentally._

_Atherin raised an eyebrow at him. "You've gotta work on your growling... You're not gonna scare anyone if you sound like a kitten all the time."_

_Raven narrowed his eyes further and tried to growl again, but it still sounded like a purr. 'Shut_** it Atherin, or I'll bite you again!**_' he snapped at him in his head._

_Atherin smirked at Raven's failed attempt to sound threatening. "Like I said, you gotta work on that."_

_Raven whipped Atherin's arm with his tail, squeaking at him. 'Do _**I need to work on that?**_' he growled mentally._

_Atherin couldn't nurse the second welt that was appearing or he'd drop Raven. "You can hit me all you want, but you still don't sound very threatening."_

**'Yeah? We'll she how non-threatening I sound when I smack that smile off your face!**_' Raven shouted in his head._

_Atherin saw the look that Raven was giving him. "Raven, I know you're angry at your situation, but it gives you no right to take it out on me. I may be teasing you about it, but that doesn't mean I'm not gonna look for a way to change you back."_

_'_**Don't pull that with me, I know you're enjoying that I can't get back at you...**_' Raven growled in his head._

_"Don't give me that look. I don't like you in this form any more than you do." Atherin said as he finally located Donnie._

_Raven rolled his eyes. _**'Sure... of course you don't...**_' he mocked mentally. He turned his head when he saw Donnie, and started wagging his tail in reaction._

_"Hey Donnie...we...kinda have a...problem..." Atherin said, indicating the black hatchling that was Raven._

_Donnie walked over and looked at the hatchling. "Where'd he come from?" he asked, stroking his head, "And what's the problem?" he said as he looked up at Atherin. Raven wagged his tail and purred loudly, but didn't snap at Donnie._

_"Oh sure, you don't mind when he pets you but you snap at me for it?" Atherin joked. "To answer your question Donnie...he's been here all the time... And, well...the reason for that is because...it's Raven..."_

_Donnie paled and nearly fainted. "What?" he shouted, looking at Raven in shock._

_"I don't know what happened to him either... He just came to my room trying to get my attention..."_

_"But people don't just turn into Organoids, Atherin!" Donnie said, still looking at his 'brother'._

_"I know that! But look at this marking..." Atherin said indicating the marking that the black hatchling had was exactly like Raven's Zi mark._

_"I know... but the only way this could have happened is if a Vareix 'charmed' him..." Donnie said, "And I can tell its Raven, I know my own brother..."_

_"A Vareix 'charm'? I didn't think they could do that...and if they could then I wonder why they never did in the first place... It'd have been easy for them to get rid of us if they had done this in the first place."_

_"Well, Vareix have a natural aversion of hurting their own. So that is probably why they never did it before..." Donnie answered._

_"I guess...but the question is...how're we gonna change him back?"_

_Donnie shrugged. "I'll look in the library and ask Horai..."_

_Atherin nodded. "...And what do we do with him? Should I just keep him with me for now?"_

_Donnie nodded. "He could get lost or get hurt when he's that size. So don't let him out of your sight. And also, since he was charmed by a Vareix, make sure you don't let him bite you, he might be venomous..."_

_"...You're too late for that information Donnie. He has already bitten me..."_

_"But did he use his fangs?"_

_Atherin shook his head 'no'. "No, he didn't break skin."_

_"Well, don't let him break the skin..." Donnie advised, "... unless you want to be paralyzed; hatchling venom is more potent than adult venom..." he added. _

_Raven looked up at Atherin and smirked evilly. _**'You hear that? Don't mess with me or I'll bite you...**_' he teased Atherin in his mind._

_"You just __HAD__ to say that out loud didn't you?" Atherin asked Donnie. And then he turned to Raven; "And don't you even think about it Raven. We don't even know how you ended up like this. For all we know whatever Vareix that did this could turn up again."_

_"Sorry, I just wanted to warn you..." Donnie said, shrugging, "Now, I'm going to go and try and find a way to reverse this, keep an eye on him..." he told him before he left. _

_Raven narrowed his eyes and snorted at Atherin. _**'He said watch me, you don't have to hold me the whole damn time!**_' he growled mentally._

_It was almost as if Atherin could tell what Raven was thinking. "I don't trust setting you down."_

_Raven started squeaking and struggling. '_**Put me down! It's not like I'm gonna run off!**_' he argued, even though he knew Atherin couldn't hear. __Atherin was hesitant about putting Raven back down. But he didn't want to stress him out too much so he set him down._

_Raven looked up at him and tried to growl again. _**'About damn time!**_' he snapped mentally._

_Atherin sighed. He was stuck 'babysitting' his best friend turned hatchling. He didn't know how he got into this situation. "Raven...how do you get into these messes?"_

_Raven turned and squeaked at him. _**'How the hell should I know? I woke up like this!**_' he shouted at Atherin in his head._

_"...It was a sarcastic question Raven... I've pretty much guessed that you have no clue either." __Raven rolled his eyes. He walked over onto the rug, but suddenly fell flat on his face with a squeak. He turned his head around and tried to get up, but his claws were stuck in the fabric._

_Atherin walked over to where he was and knelt down. "Hold still Raven..." Atherin said as he tried to get his claws out of the fabric. After a minute or two did Atherin get them out._

_Raven looked at Atherin and squeaked. _**'How do you live with these damn claws? I can't even walk normally with them!**_' he said in his head._

_Atherin could kind of guess what Raven was saying. "You get use to them eventually... I can kinda put them away, but they're still claws..."_

_Raven rolled his eyes. _**'Well I can't do that!**_' he seethed. He wandered over by the couch. Everything looked weird when he was only a foot and a half tall... __Atherin sat down on the ground. He kept an eye on Raven, making sure he didn't hurt himself or got stuck again._

_Raven looked over at Atherin and plodded over to him. _**'Why does stuff like this always happen to me?'**_ he asked him, even though he knew he couldn't hear._

_Atherin just shook his head. He knew Raven well enough to know what he was asking. "I just don't know Raven... But I'm sure Donnie will find something to fix this..."_

_Raven rolled his eyes. _**'Yeah, but I'm stuck as a freaking hatchling!**_' he snapped in his mind._

_"No need to take it out on me." Atherin said when he noticed Raven doing the Organoid equivalent of rolling his eyes. __Raven snorted and curled up on the ground. He didn't feel like dealing with Atherin at them moment.__ Atherin sighed but reached over and pulled Raven over to him. He knew enough about hatchlings to know that they needed to be kept warm... And whether Raven liked it or not, he __WAS__ a hatchling at the moment._

_Raven looked up at Atherin in confusion. He started struggling. _**'Don't touch me, Atherin!**_' he snapped mentally, trying to get away._

_"Raven, whether you like it or not you're a hatchling at the moment. If you don't stay with something warm you'll get cold and your Organoid functions will cease." He tried to explain._

_Raven rolled his eyes. _**'I'm fine!**_' he argued in his head, still trying to get away._

_"Okay Raven, but when your functions start to slow don't say I didn't warn you." Atherin said as he released Raven again. __Raven snorted and walked away from him. He curled up a few feet away, just out of Atherin's reach. He was feeling a little cold, but it didn't bother him.__ Atherin just let him be. He was interrupted from his 'babysitting' when Ryoko contacted him. From what he could tell she was talking with Karl in the hanger and was glad she was getting to know him better. He didn't notice that Raven was starting to get cold. __Raven curled up a little tighter, trying to get a little warmer. He completely ignored Atherin.__ Ryoko finally left his mind to talk to Karl some more. He watched Raven, making sure that he was still fine before looking around the room... He should have brought something to do since Raven was being stubborn...not that he wasn't always stubborn. __Raven got up and walked a little further away from Atherin. He hated to admit it, but Atherin seemed to be right; he was feeling cold._

_Atherin just let Raven walk a little away from him. He kept him in his sight at all times, but at the first sign that his functions seemed to be stopping he'd have to go and keep him warm. __Raven looked over at Atherin and tried to growl again. But again, it came out as a purr. _**'Don't even think about it, Dracula...**_' he snapped in his mind._

_Atherin raised his brow again when Raven tried to growl at him. "...I hate to say it Raven, but you really do sound like a kitten when you try to growl..." __Raven snorted and hissed quietly. It sounded a bit more threatening than his growl; more like a small snake._

_Atherin just shook his head at him. "I don't know why you're hissing at me, I'm just telling you the truth." __Raven narrowed his eyes and curled up again. He just ignored him again.__ Atherin remained quiet. He knew that in a couple of minutes or so Raven would need to get warmed up or he'd risk his functions ceasing. He'd be able to pick Raven up without Raven causing too much of a fuss and go get a blanket for him. He wasn't about to leave him alone. __Raven curled up a little more. He hated being an Organoid. He just hoped Donnie hurried and found a way to change him back.__ Atherin was getting bored just sitting there. He'd take matters into his own hands. He knew that Raven couldn't do much against him so he went over and picked him up. As he expected Raven struggled a little against him, but he didn't let it bother him as he went in search of a blanket. __Raven growled weakly at him and tried to get free. He was not happy with Atherin..._

_"Sorry Raven, but I'm not gonna just sit and watch while you literally freeze to death. I know you don't like me holding you, but you'll just have to deal 'til I can get you a blanket instead."_

_Raven rolled his eyes. _**'I was just fine 'til you picked me up...**_' he grumbled mentally. __Atherin ignored Raven as he continued to walk back to his room. He was just going to grab his, wrap Raven up in it and then take him back to the living area.__ Raven snorted and squeaked unhappily, but he gave up struggling. He was too cold and tired to do that. __Atherin held him a little closer when he noticed how unresponsive Raven was to him holding him. It was still a few minutes walk to his room.__ Raven grumbled to himself when Atherin did that. But he didn't feel like fighting with him at the moment._

_Atherin finally reached his room and entered it. Holding Raven in one arm, he began to pull out his blanket from where it had been wedged. After fighting with the blanket for a minute he set Raven down on his bed. Before Raven could do anything Atherin wrapped him up in it, and then picked him up again. __Raven poked his head out of the bundle of fabric and glared at Atherin. He was __NOT__ at all happy..._

_"Sorry Raven. If you don't want me holding you when ever you get cold you'll just have to deal with being in a blanket." __Raven rolled his eyes and huffed. This just wasn't his day.__ "Don't go blaming me now. I'm just trying to help you until we can get this fixed." Atherin defended._

_Raven snorted. _**'Don't start with me...'**_ he growled mentally._

_Before Atherin and Raven could get back to the living area someone called to Atherin. He turned to see Ryoko coming toward him. When she spotted Raven in his arms she caught up to him quickly. "Aww! Such a cute hatchling!" She cooed as she pet behind Raven's crest. __Raven started wagging his tail happy, purring loudly. He quickly stopped himself and retreated back into the blanket to hide._

_Ryoko giggled when he did that. She talked with Atherin mentally asking him whose hatchling this was. She was surprised when she found out that it was Raven. She giggled again; "He such a cute hatchling though. Let me hold him for a little bit Atherin!" She didn't even give him time to protest as she took Raven out of his arms. __Raven squeaked in surprise, unsure of what was going on, since he was still hidden in the blanket._

_"R-Ryoko! Be careful with him! He's not a play thing!"_

**'You got that right!**_' Raven agreed in his mind._

_"Now, now Raven. No need to get so mad. I'm not gonna drop ya sweet heart." __Raven poked his head out of the blanket and looked around. He wasn't sure what was really going on.__ As soon as Raven poked his head out of the blanket Ryoko started to pet him again. She was cooing at him as well, as if he really was a hatchling. __Raven couldn't help but purr and close his eyes. He wagged his tail slightly, although it was still in the blanket.__ That made Ryoko giggle again and continue to pet and coo at Raven. Atherin didn't leave knowing that his sister could very well forget that the black hatchling __WAS__ Raven._

_Raven turned to Atherin. He stuck his tongue out at him. Ryoko was being much gentler with him than Atherin had been. __Ryoko translated what Raven was saying to her brother. "He says I'm being gentler with him than you were Atherin." She said, teasing him a little. _

_"I __WAS__ being gentle with him. He was too busy struggling against me to notice." Atherin said, narrowing his eyes a little._

_Raven rolled his eyes. _**'You didn't give me any warning! You just picked me up and didn't give me any say in the matter!**_' he shot back mentally._

_"You'd have tried to bite me if I told you." Atherin defended. He was using Ryoko's stronger mental ability to hear what Raven was saying to him._

**'No I wouldn't have! The only reason I bit you was because you were bugging me!**_'_

_"You didn't seem to mind when I pet you and then you just suddenly turn and bite me. I don't see how that's called bugging you."_

_'_**...shut up...**_'_

_Atherin remained silent after that. He didn't understand why Raven thought that he was always teasing or annoying him. Yeah, he knew that he did so a lot, but not always. __Raven retreated back into the blanket. He didn't feel like arguing._

_"Here Atherin, I think I'll go help Donnie look for something." She said handing Raven back to him. __Raven squeaked inside the blanket. He wasn't sure what was going on.__ Atherin watched as Ryoko headed toward the library. He headed back to the living area. It was probably the best place to watch over Raven at the moment._

_Raven stuck his head out again and squeaked. He wasn't happy being unable to talk..._

_"Sorry Raven... Our translator disappeared to go help Donnie."_

_Raven sighed. _**'Great... now I'm back to squeaking and chirping...'**

_Atherin got back to the living area soon after running into Ryoko. He set Raven on the couch as it was warmer than being on the ground. He sat down next to him, missing how he couldn't really talk with his friend. He had to guess what he was squeaking and chirping about. __Raven started squirming around in the blanket. He couldn't figure out how to get out. He squeaked in frustration, trying to get out._

_Atherin turned to him and helped him out of the blanket. "Better?" __Raven nodded. He stretched and fanned his wings, yawning._

_"Seems somebody might need a nap." Atherin jested when he saw Raven yawning._

_Raven growled at him, narrowing his eyes. _**'Shut up, Dracula...**_'_

_"Chill Raven... No need to get so flustered at me." __Raven rolled his eyes. He wanted to whip him with his tail again, but decided against it. He curled up a few feet away, but didn't close his eyes. He wasn't ready to sleep.__ Atherin leaned back against the couch. He had forgotten to grab something to keep him entertained. He could possibly go get something real quick... __Raven yawned again, curling up tighter._

_Atherin decided that Raven would be just fine without him for a few minutes. He got up but only put the blanket over Raven, his head could still be seen. "I'm gonna go get something real quick. I don't want your functions ceasing while I'm gone so stay under the blanky okay?"_

_Raven looked at him oddly. _**'Blanky? What does he think I am, six?**_' he shouted mentally._

_Atherin left the living area to go back to his room to get something. He had found an interesting book while in the library and since he was stuck babysitting Raven, he might as well go get it to keep himself entertained. __Atherin was unaware that he was being watched. Rabe had snuck into the library, clutching a charm to turn Atherin...__ Atherin milled through the rows of books. It looked like Donnie and Ryoko had gathered what they needed and went to the kitchen to pour over the books. He reached the row he was looking for and spotted the book he had been reading. He reached up and pulled it off the shelf._

_Rabe emerged from the shadows behind Atherin. "Well... I never took you as a reader, Atherin..." he hissed._

_Atherin turned around when he heard Rabe. How the hell did he actually get __INTO__ Horai! She just didn't __LET__ people into her! Atherin really couldn't do anything. The row was too cramped for him to do anything. __Rabe smirked. "What's the matter? Not happy to see me?"_

_"Who would?" Atherin retorted. He'd defend himself as best he could, but he some how knew that he had already lost this battle. __Rabe narrowed his eyes and snorted. He stuck the charm to Atherin's chest, before he sank back into the shadows.__ Atherin tried to get the charm off of him, but it wasn't budging. He suddenly felt extremely tired and a few seconds after that he collapsed to the floor, out cold. __Raven curled up tighter under the blanket. He was nearly asleep, and therefore wasn't concerned with where Atherin had gone._

_Nearly an hour had passed since Atherin had fallen unconscious from the strange charm. His eyes fluttered opened and he got up. He immediately noticed that every thing around him was __MUCH__ bigger. He looked at himself to confirm his suspicions. Yep...he had been turned into a hatchling as well. _**'Well...at least I know how Raven was changed and who did it...**_' Atherin sighed. __Raven had fallen into a light sleep. He was tired from having to deal with Atherin all day._

_Atherin walked out of the library cautiously. He didn't want to run into any one at the moment. When he felt that it was safe enough he quietly made his way back to the living area. He was much more coordinated than Raven was as he was already use to having claws and he still retained his vampire like qualities. He could even hover for a little bit as he tried it out just for the hell of it. He soon reached the living area, still silently and with out any one noticing him. He quickly spotted Raven sleeping on the couch right where he had left him. Now...how was he supposed to get his attention? __Raven rolled over in his sleep. He was out like a light._

_Atherin wandered over to the couch and jumped onto it. He was a little surprised himself at how easy he was able to move around in his new form. He went over to where Raven was, trying to think of the best way to wake him. __Raven didn't react, unaware he was even there. He was exhausted, and in a deep sleep.__ Well...Atherin knew one way that could wake him... "Hey Raven! Wakey, wakey!" He said loudly._

_Raven yawned and woke up, blinking his eyes sleepily. He looked up at Atherin, staring at him blankly. He didn't even realize he was a hatchling._

_"Come on Sunshine. It's time to wake up."_

_Raven's eyes widened. "Atherin? You too?"_

_"Yeah, me too and it's about time you noticed. I at least know how and who though."_

_"Who turned you? Whoever got you got me in my sleep..."_

_"It was Rabe... I was in the library."_

_"Great... how'd he get in?"_

_"Don't ask me. I don't know."_

_"Great, now Rabe is loose..." Raven sighed, "But at least now you can understand me..."_

_"Yeah. It makes things a whole lot easier." Atherin agreed. Now that they were both only about a foot and a half off the ground they'd need to be more careful..._

_"Now what?" Raven asked._

_"...Well...I'm 'supposed' to watch over you, but as we're both only a foot and a half tall I guess the best thing would to be to watch out for one another... I don't think Donnie or Ryoko would be too happy with us if we left this area... It IS pretty big now in our current state..."_

_Raven nodded. He looked at Atherin, catching sight of his fangs. "You better not get any funny ideas..."_

_"Oh please. I don't drink Organoid blood." Atherin replied before he jumped onto the back of the couch. He was tiny now so being up there he could see the whole room._

_"That's not what I mean, Atherin. Donnie said young Vareix can also feed off energy..." Raven clarified. He scrambled up after him, looking around as well._

_"Well, I won't do that consciously. I'd prefer sinking my fangs into something for blood than just energy." Atherin replied. Things were so much different from this height. He looked over to where a table was some feet away. It wasn't the one that had Donnie's orchid on it but, but because he was bored perhaps he'd try some gliding..._

_Raven rolled his eyes. "That makes me feel __SO__ much better..." he said. He turned his back to Atherin, sitting on the back of the couch, looking around the room._

_Atherin ignored Raven. He had made up his mind and would try out gliding. He could already hover; gliding couldn't be that much different. He unfurled his black demon like wings and took off. He glided over to the table and landed perfectly, as if he had been flying all his life. __Raven ignored Atherin as well. He was busy looking around for something interesting to do._

_Atherin jumped off the table before looking around again. It would seem that the living area wouldn't provide them with the entertainment that they wanted. There wasn't anything interesting here... Perhaps they could wander around..._

_Raven looked over at Atherin. "Something wrong, Dracula?"_

_"It's boring here... I'd rather walk around then just have us annoy the hell out of the other..."_

_Raven rolled his eyes. "But I like it here..."_

_"Then you're boring as well..."_

_"Shut it Atherin, or I just might bite you..."_

_"You know perfectly well that I'll just bite back."_

_Raven rolled his eyes. "So? I'm made of metal now..."_

_"As am I. And I do have more experience biting than you do." Atherin smirked. If he just played his cards right he'd get Raven riled up and then the two of them could play fight. It would keep them entertained and from wandering._

_Raven narrowed his eyes. "Oh shut up Atherin... I've been around Organoids longer than you have..."_

_"So? I seem to have gotten this being a hatchling down better than you have! You're still wobbling when you walk." Atherin teased._

_"Shut up Atherin, I don't feel well, so I can't really walk well..." Raven shot back._

_"Whatever Raven...you're still no fun." Atherin said as he started to walk around, his talons clicking as when he made it to a hard surface. __Raven growled at him before he went back to looking around._

_"Still need to work on that growl of yours Raven!" Atherin called out as he rounded a corner that lead to a second smaller seating area. __Raven narrowed his eyes. He hissed instead.__ Atherin came back out from the little seating area. There wasn't anything back there either. "You sure you don't want to leave this area?"_

_Raven turned to Atherin. "Wanna go out into the garden?"_

_"Beats sitting in here." Atherin replied as he started to walk to the hall way that'd lead them to the garden. He waited for Raven to catch up._

_Raven glided over to him, landing beside him. "Told you I could glide..." he growled, before he looked around for anything to get into._

_"I never said that you couldn't glide. I said that you couldn't walk." Atherin corrected as he started to walk off again. __Raven rolled his eyes. The garden was much better than being cooped up in the living area. He stopped suddenly and turned his head, hearing something with his heightened hearing._

_Atherin was already stalking an unfortunate lizard. He guessed that Raven had heard one too and was going after it. He was too preoccupied with his at the moment to see what Raven was doing. He froze when it looked at him. When it turned its attention to something else he resumed, moving stealthily and lithely through the tall grasses... __Raven pressed himself low against the grass. His lizard hadn't even seen him yet. He stalked over to it and pounced, pinning the reptile under him._

_Atherin had begun to stalk his lizard at a further distance than what Raven had and was so still stalking it. He had frozen once or twice again before he was within striking distance. He edged a few centimeters more before he pounced on his lizard, snapping its neck with a quick motion of turning his head. __Raven got up, letting his lizard go. He didn't want to kill it. He plodded over to Atherin, seeing that he had killed his 'prey'.__ Atherin noticed that his lizard was too big to just swallow whole. He held it down with one of his talon feet before ripping a piece off and swallowing it. He wasn't afraid of killing and eating in front of another. __Raven stared at him, before he stuck out his tongue and made a disgusted noise._

_Atherin tore off another bite before he turned to Raven. "It's not as bad as you think."_

_"Well it looks worse than I thought it would... how the hell can you __EAT__ that!" Raven said._

_"Quite simply really. See? You just hold it down, grab a piece in your mouth and rip it off and then swallow it." Atherin said as he went through each step, explaining __AND__ showing._

_"That's not what I meant!" Raven snapped._

_Atherin tore off another piece before answering Raven. "I've eaten lizards before...granted...I __HAD__ cooked them before hand..." he trailed off. __Raven turned away from him, and sat down in the grass. He chewed on the lizard's tail, more out of boredom than hunger. __Atherin finished his meal of lizard before he tried to clean the blood off his muzzle. As a hatchling he had learned that he was a messy eater... __Raven had eaten a good bit as well. But he had been a much less messy eater, and had barely a drop of blood on him._

_Atherin couldn't get the blood off him with his claws so he went to the pond instead to clean up in. He waded into the shallows and cleaned the blood off him. Now that he was full he could stalk and not kill this time. __Raven walked over to Atherin. He only had a few small drops of blood on his muzzle. "You need to learn so manners, Dracula..." he teased, crouching down on the bank._

_"Manners? I'm allowed to be messy! At the moment, we're both the equivalent of a two year old." Atherin retorted as he spied the fish coming a little closer to them. After remember what Ryoko told him about them he was sorely tempted to catch one and eat it just for the hell of it._

_Raven saw the fish as well. He pounced and bit it before Atherin could. It was dead before it even knew what hit it. He swam back to shore and dropped it. "Beat you..."_

_"Didn't know it was a competition... And...won't Donnie get mad at you for killing his fish?"_

_Raven swallowed. "Oops... but I don't think he'll notice ONE fish is gone..." he said, starting to chew on the fish._

_"Unless it was his favorite one." Atherin said as he just watched Raven eat the fish._

_Raven rolled his eyes. "Shut it Atherin..." he growled, "Do you want some?"_

_"Never did like the fish but no thanks. I don't want any part of it if Donnie finds out."_

_Raven rolled his eyes. "Suit yourself..." he shrugged, before he continued eating. __Atherin disappeared back into the tall grasses. He was going to explore a little bit now that everything towered over him.__ Raven finished and followed him. He wasn't as quiet as Atherin, and consequently scared away anything worth hunting._

_Atherin managed to lose Raven in the tall grasses as he was much more versed in the art of stealth. He quietly stayed hidden until Raven passed him, Raven not even noticing that he was there. He waited until he was a little ahead of him before he started his new 'hunt'. __Raven looked around, unable to see Atherin. "Atherin?" he called, trying to find the grey hatchling. He crouched low in the grass, not wanting to be spotted by something dangerous._

_Atherin stopped when Raven did. But he knew how to get closer when his 'prey' just stopped like that. He edged closer and closer without making a sound. He readied himself to pounce on Raven and when he felt it was right did so. He pounced on his back and did a triumphant roar that sounded pretty convincing for someone that had just been turned into a hatchling._

_Raven yelped and tried to get free, not knowing what had just happened. He squeaked in fear and frustration, biting at whatever had pinned him. __Atherin jumped off him before Raven could land a bite on him. He backed up a little from Raven, bobbing a little. He wanted to play and now it was Raven's turn to try and stalk him.__ Raven jumped up and tried his best to snarl at him. "That wasn't funny!"_

_Atherin just bobbed some more before he turned tail and ran back into the tall grasses. If Raven wanted to complain to him about it he'd have to catch him first to make him listen. __Raven gave chase, trying to catch up with him. He wasn't happy, and he was going to make it known._

_Atherin had slipped away again. He could hear Raven giving away his position. He lied low to the ground, hiding himself once again. __Raven slowed down, listening. He started to use his newly-heightened senses to try and catch Atherin.__ Atherin remained perfectly still. He could still hear Raven, but he wasn't about to get up and try to slink away again. __Raven quieted, listening. He was starting to notice senses he had never noticed before. He could hear a thumping in the grass a little ways off, and he lunged at it, pouncing on Atherin.__ Atherin heard Raven pounce on something...something that Raven thought was him... Didn't he realize that as Organoid's they didn't have a heartbeat? Oh well, more time for him to slink away..._

_Raven quickly realized it wasn't Atherin he had jumped on... but a snake. It whipped around and hissed, latching onto his neck. He squeaked, biting the creature back. Not the best thing to do, for the snake wrapped around him and tried to constrict him._

_Atherin could sense that it was something dangerous that Raven had jumped on. He turned around and went to go save him...like usual... He saw what was hurting Raven and he growled lowly, not a purr like when Raven tries to growl. He stepped out into the clearing, hissing at the creature. He got close enough to bite the creature injecting the paralyzing venom on accident, but hey, he wasn't complaining. After a few seconds the snake went lax and released Raven. __Raven got free of the snakes coils and hid behind Atherin. His neck was bleeding, and he didn't want it to attack him again._

_Atherin motioned for Raven to get out of this clearing and into the tall grasses. He was hurt and predators wouldn't hesitate to try and make a meal out of him. He was kind of working on what his instincts were telling him to do, so he licked the back of his claws and a clear, thick substance was left behind. He then put it on the wounds on Raven's neck and the bleeding started to stop._

_Raven looked at him. "Eww..." he whined, trying to move his wounded neck out of Atherin's reach._

_"Will you stop moving?" Atherin growled out. "It's making the wound stop bleeding right? So just let me fix it."_

_"But it's disgusting..." Raven whined again._

_"I don't care. I can't 'heal' you like I could as a vampire and this is as close to 'healing' as I can get." Atherin sighed as he tried to put more of the substance on the wound._

_Raven sighed and let Atherin do what he wanted. "But why does it have to be slimy?" he complained._

_"Because." Atherin answered as he finished up what he was doing._

_Raven made a disgusted 'bleh' noise, and shook his head when Atherin finished. "It's still disgusting..."_

_"Oh well, you'll live. It's better than bleeding to death." Atherin said as he looked around, making sure nothing else dangerous would get to them._

_Raven rolled his eyes. "I guess..." he muttered, looking around as well._

_A loud screech from above them made both hatchlings crouch lower into the tall grass. Atherin looked above them and spotted a red hawk. In their form if that hawk decided to it wanted to eat one of them they wouldn't be able to really stop it. __"Make it go away!" Raven whispered harshly, looking up at the large bird._

_"How am I supposed to do that! I'm hardly any bigger than you are!" Atherin whispered just as harshly as the large bird of prey landed on one of the branches of a nearby tree._

_"I don't know, just do something!" Raven shot back, getting increasing nervous as he looked at the large bird._

_The hawk cocked its head down at them. They crouched as low as they could go to try and hide themselves. They'd never make it back into Horai if they ran... Atherin was thinking of every possible thing they could do to try and get away safely. __Raven whined and tried to hide under a leaf, since his black coloration stood out more than Atherin's grey one. He curled up under the leaf, mewing quietly._

_Atherin glared at the hawk. He was getting testy with the hawk checking them out for its next meal. The hawk screeched again before it decided to swoop down on them. Atherin wasn't having any of it. As soon as the bird got close enough to him he bit it as hard as he could and shook his head. The hawk screeched before taking off, but not before Atherin pulled out a whole bunch of feathers._

_Raven peeked out from under the leaf. "Is it gone?"_

_Atherin spit out as many feathers as he could before trying to answer Raven. "Yeah, it's gone. I don't think it'll bother us again..." Atherin replied as he used his claws to try and get the remaining feathers out of his mouth._

_Raven shook off the leaf and looked around. "That was close..."_

_"Yeah... What with that snake and now the hawk we're both lucky that we're still alive." Atherin replied as he got the rest of the features from his mouth._

_Raven nodded. "Don't these things realize that we're made of metal?"_

_"Probably not... We probably look like over grown lizards to them."_

_Raven sighed. "I hate this... I want to be human again..."_

_"And I want to be a vampire again... Come on...we should get back inside before something else tries to eat us..."_

_Raven nodded. "I just hope that big white snake or that wolf doesn't find us..."_

_Atherin nodded before he led the way back into Horai. He didn't want anything else to ambush them. __Raven followed closely after Atherin. He always seemed to have the worst luck, and he didn't want to get eaten by something.__ They entered Horai without anything else jumping out at them. They made it back to the safety of the living area before they both collapsed onto the couch. It was more comfortable than lying on the ground._

_Raven was panting heavily. "How do... Organoids manage... to get around... like this?" he breathed._

_Atherin looked over at Raven. He was tired too after attacking a snake and a hawk hell bent on eating them, but he wasn't panting like Raven was. "It's not...too much different for me... I'm using to moving around a lot..." Atherin said as he curled up on the couch._

_"Lucky you..." Raven groaned, curling up as well._

_Atherin chuckled at Raven. "You'll just have to get use to it until Donnie and Ryoko find something."_

_Raven rolled his eyes. "Shut it Atherin..."_

_Atherin chuckled again. "Now what're we gonna do? I don't want to go back outside unless someone is with us..."_

_"Me either..." Raven agreed, stretching his tiny body. He was tired, but not tired enough to take a nap. "And I don't know what to do..."_

_"We could go see what Donnie and Ryoko have found..." Atherin suggested._

_"No... I don't want to wander around... especially with Shadow and Azel unaccounted for..."_

_Atherin sighed. He didn't want to run into Shadow or Azel either. And without Donnie or Ryoko here, they had no idea what was going on... __Raven sighed and lowered his head to the couch. He was starting to get bored, but he didn't want to leave the room again._

_Atherin was already bored. And the only thing in the room that could keep him entertained was Raven... He quietly got off the couch as to not alert Raven to what he was up to. __Raven sighed. He looked over to Atherin to try and start a conversation, but he wasn't there anymore. "Atherin?"_

_Atherin remained quiet and as hidden as he could. He didn't want Raven to find him just yet. __Raven looked around and got to his feet. "Atherin? Where are you?" he called again, getting nervous._

_Atherin still didn't answer him as he slinked around the couch to end up behind Raven. He was waiting for him to move a little more to him some room to get back up onto the couch. __Raven turned and made a quiet mew. "Atherin?" he called again, looking around a little more urgently._

_Atherin took a quick sneak peak to make sure that Raven wasn't looking in his direction. He wasn't and so he took the opportunity to jump onto the couch quietly. Raven didn't even notice him which was just perfect. __Raven looked around and mewed again. He crouched down and wrapped his tail around himself, starting to get worried. "Atherin?" he tried calling again._

_Atherin sighed quietly. He couldn't scare Raven now, not after seeing him like that. "I'm right here Raven." He said softly, trying to not scare him, even if it HAD been his intent before._

_Raven turned and looked at him. "What are you doing?" he asked, "I hate it when you just vanish like that..."_

_"Sorry... I got bored...and didn't want to just sit on the couch..."_

_Raven rolled his eyes. "You were gonna scare me again, weren't you?"_

_Atherin shuffled one foot looking down. "I was...but I couldn't... Not after hearing and seeing you like this..."_

_Raven snorted. "I knew it! You were gonna scare me! What is it with you and scaring me witless?"_

_"You're usually the only one with me... And the only one that tolerates it..." Atherin replied quietly._

_Raven rolled his eyes. "Yeah, tolerates, not enjoys..."_

_"...Sorry Raven... I don't mean to always take my boredom out on you..."_

_Raven rolled his eyes. "Sure... of course you don't..."_

_"No, I mean it." Atherin said when he saw that Raven didn't believe him._

_Raven sighed. "I don't really mind Atherin..."_

_Atherin nodded slightly. He wished someone else would come to keep them entertained. There was only so much that they could... __Raven sighed and walked over to him. He nosed him with his snout. "Cheer up Dracula!"_

_"Yeah, yeah... But I'm still bored... You sure we can't go find someone?"_

_"I don't want to get hugged to death or accidently stepped on, Atherin..."_

_"...When they come back to see us they'll hold and coddle us anyways... And the only other people here are Karl, Ibeyla and the Organoids. Karl's probably in the hanger with Azel and Shadow and Ibeyla is more than likely in the kitchen with Donnie and Ryoko... I don't think we'll get stepped on..."_

_"I don't care; I'm more concerned with Shadow picking up our scents. She has the horrible habit of being able to track other Organoids..."_

_"Then wouldn't she have done so by now?" Atherin asked curiously._

_"We haven't left the room, but if we do she might pick up on our scent..."_

_"...But we've already left the room... When you came to my room and when I took you to get a blanket... And then there was when I left the library to come here..."_

_Raven shrugged. "I still don't want to chance it..." __Atherin sighed. He didn't want to stay cooped up in the living area. He wanted to look around, even if it meant chancing a run in with Shadow._

_Raven sighed and looked down. Atherin's tail caught his eye, and before he could stop himself he pounced on it, his instincts to bite anything that moved winning out as he nipped the tip of Atherin's tail._

_Atherin whipped the end of his tail out of Raven's bite. It didn't hurt too much but he certainly wasn't expecting it. He guessed that he didn't have a very good control over his instincts to bite anything that moved. He'd tolerate it, as he knew that Raven didn't have as good of control as him. __Raven sat on his haunches and blinked. "Sorry..." he said sadly._

_"It's alright Raven. I know that you couldn't help it."_

_"How can you live like this? I can't stop myself from going for anything that moves!"_

_"Now you know how I feel most of the time... I learned to ignore it by the time I was about eight... Until then I was going after things as well..."_

_"Well, I can barely stop myself from chasing my own damn tail!" Raven whined._

_"We need to find you something to chase then...that's not my tail..." Atherin joked._

_Raven growled. "Don't screw around with me, Atherin... I might just go for your neck..."_

_Atherin sighed. "Look, I'm only trying to help. My parents had something in the house to keep us from stalking each other...too much at least... Until we can find something I guess I don't mind keeping you entertain..."_

_Raven wagged his tail and pounced on Atherin again. He growled playfully, before he realized what he was doing and backed off. "Sorry... again..."_

_Atherin rolled back onto his feet. "It's fine Raven. I don't mind it too much..."_

_Raven looked down. He didn't really have any control anymore, and it was really scaring him. __Atherin wasn't going to stand around and waiting for Raven to jump him again, so he made the first move this time. While Raven was preoccupied with whatever, he pounced on him again, growling playfully._

_Raven squeaked and bit at Atherin. He got his mouth on Atherin's shoulder, but he knew better than to bite down. __Atherin growled in mock anger when Raven got his shoulder. He didn't want to hurt him or accidently drain energy from him so he refrained from biting at Raven.__ Raven swiped at Atherin's muzzle playfully with his claws, not releasing his shoulder._

_Atherin returned the swipe but to Raven's chest, but it didn't hurt him. He growled playfully again. In fact, this was the first time that Raven could actually play with him a little roughly. __Raven growled evilly and swung his tail, hitting Atherin's back. He let go of Atherin's shoulder and nipped his neck, before he swiped at Atherin's muzzle again with his claws._

_Atherin returned the tail whip to Raven. He nipped at Raven's neck too before he slashed at Raven's muzzle. He growled again as he took another swipe at Raven with his claws. __Raven yelped and got his mouth on Atherin's neck. He didn't bite or put much pressure; he just wanted to keep him from nipping him again. He swiped at Atherin's chest as well with his tiny claws, lashing his tail.__ Atherin growled again before whipping Raven across his back with his tail. She swiped Raven with his claws again to try and get him to let go of his neck._

_Raven yelped and released him, whining softly. He swiped at Atherin, banging his claws on his nose to try and distract him from getting at his neck. __Atherin shook his head when Raven banged his muzzle. He wasn't going to nip at his neck again. The first time had only been a warning to not do it again, but it seemed that Raven miss read him._

_Raven nipped at Atherin again, struggling. He clawed at him again, and whipped him with his tail. __Atherin nipped back, but not at Raven's neck. He clawed at Raven again, growling and now hissing, but it wasn't threateningly.__ Raven hissed back and bit Atherin's arm, not letting go. __Atherin hissed again and nipped at Raven again. He didn't trust himself to actually bite down and not let go.__ Raven didn't let go. He wasn't about to release him and get swiped at. __Atherin hit him with his tail again. He also scratched at him again, his claws hitting against Raven's muzzle. __Raven whined but didn't let go. Even though he was an Organoid, he was still stubborn as ever._

_Atherin was still just as stubborn as well. He lashed at Raven again with his tail and he struggled a little to get free from his bite. In doing so, they both got too close to the edge of the couch and toppled off it._

_Raven squeaked and released him before he fell. He hit the ground hard and just lied there for a moment, stunned from the impact. __Atherin squeaked in surprise as well. He landed a little ways from Raven so then he wouldn't fall on him and hurt him. In doing so, however, he landed on one of his wings.__ Raven didn't get up, stunned from the impact. He had landed wrong on his left leg and arm, and hit his head._

_Atherin was first to recover...well...kind of... He rolled over onto his stomach to check out what he had done to his newly acquired wings. The one was fine but the other...a crumpled mess... It hurt to move it and when he tried to move it see the extent of damage he whined. He then turned to Raven to see how he was doing; he hadn't yet recovered from the fall..._

_Raven whined loudly, still not getting up. His left leg was paining him greatly, and he could feel blood dripping down it. __Atherin got up slowly, making sure he didn't hurt anything else, before he went over to Raven. He looked at the wound on Raven's leg before he started to lick the back of his claw again to get the bleeding to stop when he put the clear liquid on Raven's damaged and bleeding leg.__ Raven was still out of it, and didn't even notice what Atherin was doing. His head was spinning from the impact._

_Atherin finished sealing the wound before he nudged Raven, trying to get a response from him. __Raven squeaked when he nosed him, but he didn't react except for that.__ Atherin nosed him again. "Come on Raven... Say something..."_

_"Oww..." Raven moaned, squeezing his eyes shut._

_Atherin chirped sadly. They should have put pillows around the couch to cushion the fall... And now both of them were injured... Atherin could only do so much to help the both of them... __Raven didn't move after that. He felt... odd... and he knew that wasn't good. He tried to shift or twitch or anything, but found he couldn't easily._

_Atherin knew that leaving him in this condition wouldn't be wise. That meant that they'd just have to wait for him to get better himself until someone found them. He went back over to the couch and pulled at the blanket. He squeaked when it fell on top of him, and he struggled a little to find his way out. When he did he dragged the blanket over top of Raven, making sure to keep his head uncovered before he also lied down on top of it. __Raven whined and moved under the blanket. He opened his eyes a crack, but his vision was blurry._

_Atherin couldn't do much for Raven at the moment. All he could do was make sure no one stepped on them. He curled up a little tighter around himself, trying to keep a little warmer. __Raven managed to push himself off the ground. He looked around, his vision blurry. "Atherin?" he called weakly, unable to find him._

_Atherin lifted his head when Raven called him. "I'm right here Raven." He said when he saw Raven looking for him. He was curled up on top of the blanket and it pooled around him making a little 'nest'._

_Raven turned towards his voice. "I... I can't see, Atherin..."_

_Atherin got up and walked over to him. "Lay back down Rave... I'm not gonna leave..." He said as he started to make a new 'nest' for Raven to use. __Raven looked at Atherin and blinked. He could only see a grey and red blur. He didn't say anything else.__ Atherin finished making the 'nest' and nudged Raven into it. "There...Just rest in there for a little while. I won't go too far."_

_Raven nodded slightly and curled up in the 'nest'. "T-thanks..."_

_Atherin made sure he was alright before he made a 'nest' right next to Raven's. When he was done he curled up into it, waiting and keeping warm until Raven felt better or someone found them. __Raven sighed and was about to take a nap, when he suddenly snapped his head up. He looked around frantically, as if panicked._

_Atherin noticed Raven looking around frantically. "Something wrong?"_

_"... Shadow..." Was Raven's reply. __Atherin instantly perked up and helped him look for her. He couldn't find her either and that worried him._

_"We should hide..."_

_"But where?" Atherin asked looking around for some place they could hide. __Before Raven could answer, Shadow walked into the room. She sniffed the air; it was clear she had followed their scent.__ Atherin crouched back down into the blanket. It was deep grey color so it could hide both him and Raven pretty well. He wanted to tell Raven to get down but he couldn't risk alerting Shadow..._

_Too late, Shadow had seen Atherin move, and his bright red stripes didn't help. She plodded over to them and leaned down, sniffing them curiously. __Atherin didn't move for fear of Shadow seeing him as dangerous or something. He was an 'unknown' hatchling to her and being Vareix didn't help the matter either.__ Shadow cocked her head and nosed him, growled curiously._

_Atherin squeaked when she nosed him. She was MUCH bigger than he was and one snap of her jaws would be the end of him. __Shadow nosed him again before she picked him up in her jaws. She lifted her head, carrying Atherin with her._

_Atherin squeaked again, but didn't struggle. He didn't want Shadow to get angry or frustrated with him. He had no clue what Shadow was planning to do with him. __Shadow set Atherin down on the couch, letting go of him. She did the same to Raven, setting him down next to Atherin._

_Atherin only looked up at Shadow. She was still SO much taller and bigger than he was. He still didn't know what she was going to do with them... __Shadow climbed onto the couch and curled around them, starting to lick them.__ Atherin squeaked again when she licked him. He still didn't mind it, but cried out when she licked his wounded wing. __Raven squeaked as well. He hated being licked as a human, but now he wasn't able to stop her. Shadow continued licking them, but was more careful of Atherin's wing._

_Atherin just curled up. It was useless to fight against her, not that he did as a vampire, but there wasn't any point. At least __NOW__ they had someone to make sure they didn't hurt themselves again. __Raven groaned unhappily, unable to do anything. Shadow continued licking them, as if they were her own hatchlings.__ Atherin settled in for a nap. He knew Shadow wasn't going to let them go for some time, and he was tired. He'd just make the most of it._

_Shadow was about to settle in for a nap as well, when she suddenly snapped her head up. She growled loudly, seeing something. __Atherin looked up when Shadow grew defensive. He remained quiet, not wanting to draw her attention from what ever was making her so anxious._

_Shadow stood up and slipped off the couch, walking a little ways away from them. Suddenly, Rabe appeared from the shadows and knocked her unconscious. She collapsed in a heap, leaving the 'hatchlings' defenseless._

_Atherin grew defensive as well. He knew that he didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of defending them, but he'd try. It wasn't in his nature to just stand down. __Raven looked over to Atherin. "Atherin? What's going on?" he asked, still unable to see. Rabe turned towards the couch, hearing Raven._

_"Rabe..." Atherin hissed out. He knew that Raven couldn't do much of anything in his state, so he positioned himself in front of him to 'try' and defend him._

_Raven whined loudly. Rabe stalked over to them and hissed. "Now I have you two right where I want you..." __Atherin hissed at him and whipped Rabe's snout with his tail as hard as he could. He couldn't do much else than that.__ Rabe snarled at Atherin. He snatched him in his claws and held him up to his face. __Atherin struggled a little, biting and whipping Rabe as much as he could.__ Rabe started to slowly dig his claws into Atherin, growling loudly in anger._

_Atherin cried out in pain but didn't stop his struggling or lashing out. The only chance that he and Raven had of surviving was if Shadow woke back up again. __Rabe tightened his grip suddenly, before he threw Atherin down onto the ground, snarling at him in rage._

_Atherin's eyes dimmed and flickered. He didn't have the strength or energy to make any sounds or move. Rabe had broken both his wings and left leg and arm and most likely his back too... He couldn't do anything else unless by some miracle he recovered and grew about 7 feet._

_Rabe leaned down to him. "Now just lay there like a good little hatchling while I devour your friend..." he hissed, smirking darkly and licking his lips._

_Atherin couldn't even muster up enough strength to hiss at him let alone try to stop him from eating Raven. He didn't like feeling useless so he tried to stand up, but it ended up with him collapsing back down to the ground. __Rabe turned from Atherin, his gaze falling on Raven. He licked his lips, eager to tear into him while he couldn't even see him, let alone defend himself.__ Atherin chirped in pain as he tried to get back onto his feet. He couldn't do it, however, and fell right back to the ground._

_Rabe snarled and lunged, snapping his jaws shut on Raven's body. Raven screamed in pain, Rabe's fangs and razor-sharp teeth piercing his metal armor. __Atherin was helpless to stop him. He just couldn't stand up let alone do anything to stop him. He felt so useless for not being able to do anything.__ Raven whimpered in pain, unable to move. His blood was streaming down Rabe's jaws, leaking from the dozens of deep wounds._

_Atherin's eyes dimmed more and the flickering started to get slower but longer. He chirped again, but couldn't do anything to stop Rabe from eating his best friend. __Rabe turned to Atherin. "Don't worry, I won't make you suffer..." he hissed through his full mouth, "... as soon as I'm done consuming Raven, I'll devour you as well..." he said evilly, tilting his head back to swallow Raven whole and alive..._

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_**Author's Note:**_ There it is everyone! Crimson Retribution's one year anniversary chapter! I hope you all liked this and much as ShadowRebirth37 and I had fun writing it! Please leave a Review! They really make my day!


	41. False Lull

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do NOT own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe__, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul, Rika, Avea, Serrer and Libelle do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME**__ as do the towns Redai and Jurei._

_**Author's Note:**_ I hoped you all enjoyed the last chapter! From the reviews that I got, I'm pretty sure you all just about ready to throttle me with where I left it off ^^; I hope you all enjoy this next chapter!

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me. We thank you for the Reviews!

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Ͽ False Lull Ͼ

Atherin shot up out of bed and looked around frantically. He was breathing hard and covered in a cold sweat; he was also shaking slightly. He looked himself over and saw that he was himself and not a dying hatchling any more. _'...A dream...? No...It was a nightmare...'_

Raven looked over at Atherin when he did that. "Hey Dracula, you alright?" he asked, not understanding why Atherin had suddenly jumped up like that.

Atherin looked over to Raven when he spoke. He was still trying to comprehend the fact that it was just a nightmare, but he just wanted to make sure... "You're alive! Thank Eve you're still alive!" He exclaimed, restraining himself from hugging his human friend to death. That nightmare was so vivid he needed to make sure that it was just that, a nightmare.

Raven blinked and stared at Atherin. "Why wouldn't I be?" he asked, unsure of why Atherin was acting so strange.

How was he supposed to tell Raven what had happened. "...R-Rabe..." Atherin started...not sure how exactly voice what his nightmare was about.

"Oh..." Raven said, "But it was just a nightmare, you don't have to worry about him..." Atherin nodded. He tried to get his breathing to calm down as well as get the mental images out of his head of Rabe swallowing hatchling Raven.

Raven looked over at Atherin. "You alright? You seem really shaken up..."

"I'll be alright... It was just...really vivid..."

"Well, a little while ago you were laughing in your sleep, so your dream couldn't have been all bad..." Raven said.

"...That's because it didn't start out as a nightmare..."

"That explains it..." Raven said, "... but it must have been funny, you were laughing a good bit..."

"...Well...you and I were...turned into hatchlings... It was...interesting...for a while..."

Raven stared. "Did you get hit over the head in that fight?"

"...I think it had to do with the charm... It's the only thing I can think of that would cause it..."

"That or it was just a strange dream..." Raven said.

"...Well it wasn't a very good one toward the end..."

"What happened?"

"...Well...After Shadow found us and 'mothered' us...Rabe appeared... He knocked her unconscious and then came after us... You were already hurt because we fell off the couch while playing... I tried to keep him from getting to you, but as I was only a foot and a half tall I couldn't do much... He...just almost killed me before he...started to...eat you... I woke up before he could..."

Raven blinked and stared at Atherin. "Ate me? And why the Helkat were we hatchlings in the first place?"

"...Umm...Rabe...changed us with some sort of...Vareix 'charm'... I don't know why really, it's just how it happened..."

"A 'charm'? I didn't think Organoids could use charms..."

"Me either... But it was a dream...and I hope that it's all that it was..."

Raven nodded. "I really don't want to get turned into a hatchling... so I hope that it was just your imagination..."

"Me too..." Atherin replied. He didn't want that to happen to them either.

"So...now what do you want to do?" Raven asked.

"...I was going to suggest going out into the garden for a little while, but you don't want to go there..."

Raven sighed. "If you want to go out there, I'll be fine. As long as that damn snake doesn't try to strangle me again..."

"We don't have to... I could always go get a book or something..." Atherin suggested.

"It's alright, and besides some fresh air would be good for us..."

"So long as you're sure about it..." Atherin said as he stood up.

"I'll live..." Raven said, getting up as well.

Atherin lead them out of the medical facility. He was still a little un-nerved by his nightmare, but tried not to let Raven see. He didn't want to worry anyone about him. Atherin didn't do a good job, because Raven could see. "Atherin? What's wrong?"

"...Just...trying to...forget about my nightmare..." Atherin answered quietly

"Was it _**that**_ bad?" Raven asked. Atherin nodded slightly. It was bad in his books... He felt completely helpless when Rabe had just about killed him and had nearly eaten Raven...

"It was just a dream Atherin, don't worry..." Raven tried to reassure him.

"...Yeah..." Atherin said, hoping that the dream wasn't an omen of the coming fight with Rabe.

"Try not to focus on the bad part of the dream. Think about the funny parts..."

Atherin nodded again. He'd try to just think about the funny parts instead. They reached the garden a couple of minutes later. Atherin looked around, just to make sure that the strange animals weren't there, nor Rabe. "Why don't we sit down near the pond?" Raven suggested.

"Okay..." Atherin agreed as they went over to the pond. He sat down when they got there. He was about to tell Raven about what he had done to Donnie's fish when a screech caught his ear instead. He looked up into one of the trees and saw a red hawk...one that was almost identical to the one in his dream.

Raven looked up as well. "I don't remember that hawk being here before..." he muttered, watching the large raptor with idle interest.

"...It's...similar to the one that...was in my dream... It's...a little...scary that there's one here..."

Raven looked over at Atherin. "Don't worry Dracula, Donnie said birds come and go, so it probably just stopped in for a rest..."

"...But still... It looks like the one that tried to eat us..." Atherin said as he watched the large bird of prey cock its head down at them to get a better look at them.

"I think we're a bit big for its taste, Atherin..." Raven said sarcastically.

"..." Atherin didn't answer him. It was just too weird for a red hawk to be on Horai shortly after his dream.

"What's wrong Atherin?" Raven asked, turning his gaze from the hawk to the vampire.

"It's just too weird though...for a red hawk to show up right after I had seen one in my dreams... It was intent on eating us... And you didn't exactly help get rid out it either..."

Raven rolled his eyes. "Oh shut it Atherin..."

"Well it's true... You **did**, however, kill one of Donnie's fish and ate it... If it makes you feel any better to get some 'revenge' on them..."

"I did what?" Raven shouted, clearly disgusted.

"You stalked the fish and killed one when it got within your striking range and then ate it." Atherin repeated.

Raven blinked. "Why the hell would I do that?"

"...Your uncontrollable instincts to stalk and eat whatever moves."

"Great... I didn't kill anything else, did I?"

"No... You killed and ate one of Donnie's fish and I killed one of the lizards and ate that. You munched on it too, but didn't kill it." Atherin answered.

"I feel like I need to go brush my teeth after hearing that..." Raven groaned.

Atherin chuckled at him. He was used to eating...just about everything. "Well...after we ate we explored out here. And with me being...well...me, I instigated stalking practice between us. I hid and then stalked you when you passed me. I jumped you and then ran, forcing you to chase after me. Well...you weren't yet used to your Organoid senses and so...stalked the...wrong thing..."

"What do you mean by the 'wrong thing'?" Raven asked.

"...It was a big black snake... It latched onto you and when you bit back it started to constrict you..."

Raven blinked. "Why did it have to be a damn snake?" he groaned, "I hate snakes..."

"...I got it off you though..." Atherin said when he saw Raven's face.

"Good..." Raven sighed.

"...But you didn't like it when I tried to 'heal' you... As you were just a regular Organoid and I was a Vareix..."

"'Heal' me? Why does that concern me?" Raven said somewhat to himself.

"...I'd...rather not say... But I didn't bite so you don't have to worry about that..."

"That's good..." Raven sighed, "But what happened after that?"

"...We were spotted by the hawk..."

"Okay... and after that?"

"We went back inside instead of chancing something else wanting to eat us. You…complained to me...a lot..."

Raven rolled his eyes. "Well, I don't think getting nearly eaten by a snake and a hawk was my idea of 'fun'..."

"It wasn't about that... It was about...your uncontrollable instincts..."

"What'd I do?" Raven sighed.

"...You went after my tail...growling playfully."

Raven blinked. "I did what?"

"You heard me. You went after my tail and then realized what you were doing. You said 'sorry' and when I said I didn't mind 'cause I knew you had hardly any control you pounced on me again, growling playfully again."

Raven groaned. "Why'd I have to turn into a freaking kitten?"

"It got better afterward though. We erupted into a play fight for a good while...until we fell off the couch and hurt ourselves..."

"I had a feeling that would happen..." Raven sighed.

"...Shadow found us soon after that and 'mothered' us. And...I don't need to tell you what happened after that..."

Raven nodded. "I knew Shadow would have tracked us down sometime..." Atherin nodded. He...wasn't sure if he should tell Raven about the beginning since he kind of _was_ acting like a kitten when everyone patted him...

Raven leaned back against the tree, sighing quietly. He was about to close his eyes to relax, when he heard something beside him and felt something touching his hand. He looked over, and saw a black snake beside him, partly on his hand. "Damnit!" he shouted, jerking his hand back in shock. Atherin looked over when Raven yelled. He saw the black snake and blinked. It was just too weird for him. The snake hissed before it slithered off. Raven immediately checked his hand and wrist. "Thank Eve... it didn't bite me..." Raven sighed.

"Yeah... But it's just too weird for me... Seeing both the hawk and the black snake after the dream..."

Raven rolled his eyes. "You're just paranoid is all..."

"...Perhaps... But at least I'm not as superstitious as you humans are. But wouldn't you be a little freaked at seeing two animals that had just tried to eat you in a dream you just had?"

Raven nodded. "I suppose so... but the snake only tried to eat me, didn't it?"

"...I think you agitated it because you bit back... After that I think it was intent on eating you..."

"Joy..." Raven rolled his eyes. "Why does everything want to eat me?"

"Well the hawk tried to eat me as I wasn't backing down from it... When it swooped down on us I bit it and shook it like a rag doll as best as I could... It took off after that... When I look back on it...I was a pretty vicious little hatchling..."

Raven smirked. "Well seeing as you're pretty 'vicious' now, I can understand that..." he joked.

"Shut up Raven... At least I saved your sorry ass, like usual." Atherin smirked back.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Don't start with me Dracula..."

"...Though...it wasn't so bad... You…kinda treated me like an 'older brother'..."

Raven looked over and blinked. "I did?" he asked.

Atherin nodded. "...It was more evident after you were attacked by the snake..."

"Well, I was probably scared witless. You know I hate snakes..."

Atherin nodded again. "I know... Even when we got back into Horai you hardly strayed from my side or sight... And when I left for a few minutes and you couldn't find me...you called to me as if I _**was**_ your brother. But like I said, I didn't mind it so much."

Raven sighed. "That doesn't surprise me. When I was little, I hated being alone. If I couldn't find someone, I used to panic..."

"...I didn't like being alone either, but I usually was... There weren't any other kids my age in the village...so all my friends were older than me by three or four years..."

"At least you had friends... my father taught me, and the next closest house was miles away..."

"...But...I don't think they were really my 'friends'... I was always the odd one out and usually ended up playing by myself anyways... I was...what's it called? 'Replaceable'?"

Raven sighed. "Well, at least you at least had _someone_. It was just me, my mom and dad and my older sister, Silvia, my entire childhood. I only got to see Donnie every now and then..." Atherin only nodded slightly. He couldn't decide which was worse... Having no one or having some one who only used you when needed and then just ignored you any other time...

Raven looked into the pond. The fish were gathered near the bank, seemingly glaring at them. "I still think they don't like us, Dracula..." he said, smirking.

"They probably never will..."

"Doesn't matter, they're fish, they can't hurt us..." Raven said.

"True, but they'll get nippy if we try to swim in their pond right now... I think Ryoko told them to do so if we tried..."

"It's not like they have fangs like you, Atherin, so I don't think we have to worry..." Raven said sarcastically.

"Don't make me remind you what these fangs feel like." Atherin retorted.

"Don't worry, I know..." Raven said, rubbing his neck subconsciously.

Atherin sighed. "It was a joke Raven..."

"I know..." Raven said, looking back down at the fish.

"...I can't even poke fun about it any more without making you end up like this..."

Raven turned and blinked. "Me getting like what? I'm just watching the fish..." he said.

"You getting all quiet and stuff... It makes me feel bad for all the times I've bitten you."

Raven rolled his eyes. "Don't feel bad... I was just looking at the fish, that's all..."

"Why? They don't like you so why pay attention to them?" Atherin asked.

Raven shrugged. "I don't know..."

"...I still can't figure you humans out sometimes..." Atherin said, more to himself than to Raven.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Well I could say the same thing about you vampires..."

"True..." Atherin replied. He remained quiet for a little while before speaking up again. He had a question that he had wanted to ask for a while now. "...Hey Raven...when is your birthday?"

Raven looked over at Atherin in confusion. "What? Why do you want to know?"

"Just curious is all."

Raven blinked. "Well, it's on May 29th..." Atherin silently cursed to himself. Raven's birthday had already passed. It was now August 7th which meant he'd have to wait a whole year to throw him a party whether he liked it or not.

Raven looked at Atherin oddly. "Now, why did you want to know that?"

"Like I told you; I was just curious is all. We've been friends for a while now and we don't even know each other's birthdays or anything like that..."

"Oh... okay..." Raven said, leaning back against the tree again. "When's your birthday?"

"It's October 5th. Two more months and I'll be seventeen..." Raven nodded. He relaxed and closed his eyes, still a little tired from the earlier blood loss.

"Though...in vampire years it's like being seventeen months old...considering our life span..."

Raven cracked an eye and looked at him. "You don't look seventeen months to me..." he joked.

Atherin sighed. "I'm just comparing to our life spans... Like...my father was two hundred and thirty years old... If you just take off the last digit it'd be like he was twenty-three... So...when I reach one hundred years old it'd be like I was ten..."

Raven blinked. "You vampires are weird..."

"As are you humans." Atherin shot right back.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Don't start that with me again..." Atherin tried to think of something else that they could talk about. He wasn't having any luck though.

Raven stared into the pond, watching the fish. "You think they're still mad at us?"

"Yes. No doubt about it."

Raven sighed. "I guess that means no swimming for awhile..."

"Yeah... I don't feel like being nipped at every two seconds."

"Me either... but I'm more worried about you trying to nip the fish back..." Raven joked, smirking.

"You know damn well that I would too." Atherin joked.

"That's what I was afraid of..." Raven said back.

Atherin chuckled. "I know Donnie would be angry with me if I _really_ did eat his fish..."

"He would. I remember once I accidently tore one's fin when Donnie and I were trying to catch him, and I didn't hear the end of it for nearly a week..."

Atherin laughed a little harder. "I can see Donnie doing that too."

"It got worse. He got my older sister Silvia to join in too..."

"You really do know how to get in trouble don't you?" Atherin smirked.

Raven rolled his eyes. "I don't do it on purpose..."

"I wonder sometimes..." Atherin joked.

Raven sighed. "I don't Atherin, trust me..."

"Yeah, yeah... I know Raven." Atherin sighed.

"And you're one to talk about getting into trouble, Atherin..." Raven retorted.

"I know. Just as you're a magnet for us vampire's I'm a magnet for trouble." Atherin joked.

Raven rolled his eyes. "I told you, I don't have a clue why your kind is drawn to me..."

"And I've already told you it's 'cause of your sweet blood."

Raven sighed. "Yeah, but unless they've bitten me, how can vampires tell?"

Atherin looked away slightly. Raven didn't need to be bleeding for vampires to tell how sweet his blood was...

Raven blinked when Atherin did that. "Atherin? Something wrong?" he asked.

"...No..." Atherin answered. He cursed himself for not being able to lie to those he cared about.

Raven looked at him disbelievingly. "Seriously Atherin, what's wrong?" he asked again.

"...Your question about why...you're such a magnet for us vampires..."

"Yeah? Did I say something I shouldn't have?" Raven asked.

"It's not that... It's just...because of our sensitive sense of smell...we can smell how sweet your blood is without you even bleeding..." Atherin replied quietly.

Raven blinked. "You can?"

Atherin nodded slightly. He sometimes cursed his sensitive nose... Raven stared at him for a moment. He had a hard time understanding what he had just heard. Atherin remained silent. He found it odd to try and explain his heightened senses to a human and then getting these reactions... He could only explain so well about himself.

Raven sighed. "That would explain why your kind keeps trying to bite me..."

Atherin nodded again. He didn't want to scare Raven with this information when he had asked this question earlier. Especially not after the rough spot they had with the 'fang incident'... Raven leaned back against the tree, looking up at the sky. It was cloudy, so the light didn't hurt his eyes. Atherin still remained silent. He knew that there were a lot of things that Raven didn't understand about him. And he knew that he'd have to explain them in due time.

Raven looked over at Atherin. He was being oddly quiet. "You alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm alright... I guess...it's just a little…weird for me to explain my vampire functions to a human..."

"Sorry that I don't understand..." Raven said quietly.

"You don't need to apologize about it. It's just weird...explaining them to...someone most of my kind call 'food'."

Raven blinked and looked at Atherin. "You don't think I'm 'food', right?"

"Of course not Raven. I said 'most'. Neither I or Ryoko think of you nor Donnie like that."

"Good..." Raven said, looking back up at the sky.

Atherin went back to being silent. He had nothing more to say at the moment. And unless Raven had any more questions for him, he would just relax in the peace and quiet. Raven looked over at Atherin. "You better cheer up Dracula, or I'm gonna shove you into the pond with the fish..." Raven 'threatened' him.

"You wouldn't even be able to get me to budge." Atherin shot back. As he was much stronger than Raven was, it was true. Just a quick tensing of his muscles and Raven wouldn't be able to move him an inch.

Raven rolled his eyes. "I'd find a way to get you in that water, don't worry about that..."

"I'm not gonna say 'I'd like to see you try' 'cause right now, I don't feel like getting wet... And I don't think you want to get pulled in either."

"You got that right. I don't want to get bitten by those fish any more than you do..." Raven agreed.

Atherin stared off into the distance. He was starting to get nervous about the up coming fight with Rabe. The Organoid had been plaguing them the longest out of the trio and he knew that Rabe would come at him full force... Raven saw this, and turned to him. "Atherin? You alright?"

"I'm just...nervous...about the up coming fight with Rabe... I'm the only one proficient in 'healing' now even though Ibeyla and Ryoko have their medicines... And...I fear that I may be hesitant with the 'Demonsbane'...due to the near death experience with silver from his hand..."

Raven nodded. "I understand Atherin. And I can't blame you..." Atherin nodded slightly. All that he needed to do was to keep calm and not freak himself out thinking about it.

Raven sighed. "Get your mind off it... we'll be fine..."

"...I hope so... I don't want to spend a long time recovering from injuries...as we still have Driacoul to worry about..."

"We'll be fine... just don't think about it..."

"...Then find some way to keep me entertained..."

Raven thought for a moment. "I'm sure how to entertain a vampire, but would a 'snack' make you feel any better?" he asked.

"...I guess it would..." Atherin answered quietly, but made no move toward Raven.

Raven pulled off his glove and offered his wrist to Atherin. "It's alright Atherin, I don't mind at all..." Raven reassured him. Atherin nodded before biting down on Raven's wrist once again. The warm liquid always made him feel better when he was feeling down. Raven turned away, letting Atherin 'feed'. He wasn't bothered by it at all anymore, having done it so many times. After a few minutes of 'snacking' did Atherin pull away, sealing the wounds as he did so. He felt better now, certainly a lot more so than earlier.

Raven put his glove back on and leaned back against the tree. "Feel better now?" he asked, looking over at Atherin.

"Yeah... I feel better... Thanks for letting me 'snack' on you."

"Don't mention it..." Raven responded, looking down at the fish in the pond. Even though Atherin was feeling better he was still quiet. There wasn't anything for them to talk about... Well...nothing he could think of anyways.

Raven continued watching the fish. They were still gathered by the bank, looking at both of them. "I don't really like the way those fish are looking at us..."

"Then throw a rock at them to make 'em scatter."

Raven shook his head no. "Donnie would kill me if I hurt one of his fish..."

"You don't have to throw it hard...just enough to freak them out."

"They'll just swim back..." Raven said, "And knowing these fish, they'll probably try to eat the rock thinking its a berry and choke to death on it..."

Atherin chuckled at that comment. "I guess you're right... They would try to do that..."

"And Donnie would kill the both of us if we killed one of his fish..."

Atherin sighed. "I know he'd do that if we hurt his fish. Could we possibly...get off this topic though? I think we've made it clear that the fish don't like us."

Raven rolled his eyes. "Then, what else do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know. You pick something...so long as it's not about fish."

"Okay... where the heck did those animals go? Last time I checked, a wolf and a python can't just vanish into thin air..."

"I don't know where they went. They don't seem to be on Horai any more as I can't sense their presence any more."

"Well, then where did they go?"

"I just told you. I don't know."

Raven sighed. "You're a lot of help..."

"Hey! I may be able to do a lot of things that you humans can't but it doesn't make me a miracle worker!" Atherin shot back. He didn't have _**all**_ the answers...just most.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Calm down Dracula, I was just kidding..."

"Yeah, yeah... So you say..."

Raven punched Atherin's arm. "I was kidding..."

Before Atherin could retort back, a loud clap of thunder sounded. As both boys had been unaware of the approaching storm it...startled them...just a little though. "Come on. Let's get back inside before we get soaked." Atherin said as he stood up.

Raven nodded and got back up. He looked around for a second, and saw a black flash in the foliage. "Atherin? Did you see that?" Raven said trying to find what had caught his eye.

"It was a quick flash, but I didn't see anything else." Atherin answered.

Raven looked around, and caught sight of two glowing amethyst eyes. "Why now?" Raven groaned. Atherin tensed slightly. Why now indeed... It was about to thunderstorm and he still wasn't at his best.

Raven looked around, the eyes vanishing. "I lost sight of him... can you see him anywhere?" Raven asked. Atherin looked around as well. It had just started raining which made his vision drop a little. He couldn't find Rabe in the downpour. Rabe had sunken into the shadows, watching his prey in safety. He was waiting for the perfect moment to finish what he had started and kill Atherin.

"Come on Raven... Let's try to get to the safely of Horai..." Atherin suggested. Raven nodded. But before either of them could move, Rabe launched out of the shadows, pouncing on Atherin. He snarled in his face, digging his razor-sharp talons into his side…

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_**Author's Note:**_ Uh-oh… The poor guys…they just can't catch a break now can they? ^^; Just how will this fight turn out? You'll just have to wait to find out!


	42. Rabe's Fight

_**Disclaimer:**__ I do NOT own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe__, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul, Rika, Avea, Serrer and Libelle do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME**__ as do the towns Redai and Jurei._

_**Author's Note:**_ Hey everyone! I know I was mean to leave you all on a cliffy, but here's their fight! Just what will happen? You'll have to read and find out! :)

Thanks to those that Reviewed! They make my day!

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Ͽ Rabe's Fight Ͼ

Atherin was startled when Rabe pounced on him. He cried out when he sunk his claws into him. He tried to get out from under him to try and get into a fighting stance. He managed to launch Rabe off him with his foot and stood up, getting the 'Demonsbane' ready for combat. Rabe sank into the shadows, where he was untouchable with the 'Demonsbane'.

Atherin looked around, trying to find the black Vareix Organoid. It was made a little difficult with his ears picking up every rumble of thunder. He was going into this without one of his major senses... Raven had his silver knife out, staying near Atherin. He knew better than to separate himself and make himself a target. Rabe waited for the right moment. He lunged from behind during a loud rumble of thunder, taking Atherin by complete surprise. He pinned him face-down, roaring loudly.

Atherin tried desperately to get Rabe off him. In his surprise attack, Rabe had knocked the 'Demonsbane' out of his slippery hands and he was trying to get it back before the Organoid got a hold of it. Rabe dug his claws into Atherin, keeping him from getting free of his grasp. Raven tried to get Rabe off of Atherin, plunging his silver knife into the Vareix's neck. Rabe screamed in pain, but smacked Raven away with his tail before he could stab him again.

Atherin tried harder when Rabe dug his claws in deeper. When he had smacked Raven away he took the opportunity to get free of Rabe's grasp and to the 'Demonsbane' before the Organoid could pin him again. His back and sides were bleeding, but as he had just 'fed' from Raven he would be alright. He squared off against the Organoid, trying to land a blow on him. Rabe snarled and swiped at Atherin, clawing his chest. He whipped his tail around, hitting Atherin's legs with the spiked tip.

Atherin cringed but didn't go down. He swung the 'Demonsbane' again and managed to hit Rabe in the shoulder. The sword was hard for him to keep a hold of with it being slippery, but he hoped that Rabe didn't notice. Rabe snarled and grabbed the blade with his claws. It stung his hands slightly, but not enough to cause him much pain. He tried to wrench it free of Atherin's grasp, snarling in his face. Atherin wasn't letting go of the sword. It was his only defense against Rabe. He twisted it while Rabe was holding it, cutting into his claws. Rabe roared and released the blade, spinning around and whipping Atherin with his tail.

As a reflex Atherin held the blade in a defensive position, holding the hilt in his right hand and bracing the blade with his left. It burned something awful but it kept Rabe's tail spikes from hitting him again. Rabe growled and snapped at him, trying to get at his throat. Atherin jumped back, out of the way when Rabe snapped at him. He didn't want the Organoid anywhere near his neck, especially since he knew Rabe wanted him dead.

Rabe hissed and snapped at him again, before he suddenly turned away from Atherin. Raven had been dazed and stunned by the blow from the Organoid's tail, and was helpless. Rabe was going to take the chance to kill him once and for all. Atherin knew what Rabe was planning. He was in front of Raven in an instant, preventing Rabe from getting to him. Rabe snorted in annoyance. He lunged at Atherin as quickly as he could, snapping his jaws shut on Atherin's arm before he even realized what had happened. Atherin cried out at the sudden pain. He knew that if he tried to wrench his arm out it would only make it worse. He took the 'Demonsbane' in one hand and hit Rabe across his back.

Rabe snorted, that action not hurting him in the slightest. He bit down harder, injecting his venom. Atherin growled before he narrowed his eyes and smashed the hilt into Rabe's face. Rabe snarled and released him, grabbing at his face with his claws. He arched his tail around and smashed the tip into Atherin's side, digging the spines in.

Atherin cringed again, but tried to do more damage to the Organoid while he was preoccupied with his face. He once again hit Rabe with the 'Demonsbane in the shoulder again, deepening the first strike he had made. Rabe backed off slightly, grabbing at his shoulder. He hissed at Atherin, baring his fangs. Atherin hissed back, his fangs bared as well even if he couldn't use them. He didn't take another shot at Rabe. He just waited and watched for what Rabe would do next. Rabe sank into the shadows, waiting for the next perfect opportunity to strike Atherin.

Atherin growled when Rabe disappeared. He was at a severe disadvantage with not being able to hear anything but the thunder. He couldn't leave Raven to venture to look for him, and if he tried to move him Rabe would attack him. Raven managed to sit up, but was still dizzy from the blow. Rabe bided his time, waiting for just the right moment.

Atherin looked back when he saw slight movement behind him. He did a quick look around before he helped Raven up. "Raven...you should get into Horai as quickly as possible... I'm sorry to say but you're just a target out here for him..."

Raven shook his head no. "I'm not leaving you out here with Rabe..." Raven argued.

"Don't argue with me Raven. It's hard enough fighting him as is. If I have to be constantly watching after you too, I won't be able to fight him effectively."

Before Raven could respond, Rabe reemerged beside Atherin and roared. He grabbed the 'Demonsbane', trying to get it. Atherin accidently pushed Raven when trying to make sure that Rabe didn't get the 'Demonsbane'. He wasn't going to just let the Organoid have it. Rabe snarled and bit at Atherin, releasing the sword to get a better shot at him. Atherin cried out when Rabe bit down harder on his shoulder. He couldn't get free and if he tried to back up or if he stumbled he'd fall on top of Raven, and possibly hurt him somehow.

Raven got up and cut at Rabe's neck with his silver knife. Rabe screamed and released Atherin, turning and pouncing on Raven. Atherin shoved Rabe off of Raven. He was finding it a little hard to fight with Raven right there, but he'd manage. He was mindful that Raven was right there before he hit Rabe again with the silver sword on the back of his neck.

Rabe snarled and backed off a few yards, growling loudly. Raven got back to his feet and stepped away, knowing he couldn't really do much. Atherin made sure that Rabe couldn't lunge at Raven again, not without going through him first. He cursed the thunder storm. Not only did it render his hearing as useless but it also doused his fire ability. Rabe snarled, lunging at Atherin suddenly. He pinned Atherin to the ground on his back, trying to get at his throat with his jaws. When Rabe knocked him over the 'Demonsbane' flew out of Atherin's hands. It landed a couple of yards away.

Rabe smirked cruelly. "Now you're defenseless..." he hissed, "... I'm going to enjoy this..."

Atherin struggled desperately against Rabe. He managed to roll away before the Organoid could snap down on his neck. He stood back up. If he went after the 'Demonsbane' it would leave Raven open for an attack, but if he didn't go after it then Rabe would and use it to kill him in a heart beat. Rabe snarled at Atherin, baring his fangs. He was preparing to strike, but not at the moment. Raven backed up further, trying not to put Atherin in danger by being close.

Atherin slowly started to circle around to where the 'Demonsbane' was. He was also trying to keep Rabe's attention on him and not Raven. Rabe lunged. He pinned Atherin on his back, holding his arms down with his clawed hands. Atherin tried once again to get Rabe off him. He was dodging Rabe's attempts at his neck, but just barely. Rabe roared in Atherin's face, baring his long fangs. He tightened his grip on Atherin and pushed him into the ground with his foot, lessening his struggles. Atherin tried vainly to get out of Rabe's grip. He was struggling with all his might but he couldn't do much else than that. He was, however, still avoiding the Organoid's attempts at his neck.

Rabe smirked. "There's no escape for you now..." he hissed, before he clamped his jaws on Atherin's throat, sinking his razor-like fangs into his neck.

Atherin knew that if he went lax due to his mind trying to protect itself, he would die. He fought against that innate instinct and still thrashed around. He managed to get free, but not before one of Rabe's fangs sliced through his neck, leaving a deep cut. On a human, it would have killed them instantly, but on a vampire, it was just another wound to heal. Rabe snorted and tried to bite at his neck again, snarling angrily.

Atherin still dodged Rabe's attack. He also managed to get Rabe off of him and stand back up. His neck and front were now nothing but a mixture of blood and rain water, the rain washing away his blood as fast as it spilled from him. Rabe snarled and lunged at Atherin, ramming him with his head, his sharp slightly-curved horns tearing into him.

Atherin cried out in pain. He seemed to have Rabe's full attention now that he was bleeding even more. He pried Rabe's horns out of him and made a dash to the 'Demonsbane'. He got to it and picked it up, waiting for Rabe to make another move. Rabe snarled, fanning his large wings. He lunged at Atherin again, jaws wide. Atherin caught Rabe's jaws with the 'Demonsbane'. He tried to shove it in deeper, but he was starting to weaken due to the blood loss. Rabe yelped and jumped back, snarling at Atherin angrily. He lashed his spiked tail, narrowing his glowing eyes.

Atherin made the first move this time. He launched himself at Rabe, trying to make another injury on him. Rabe dodged and bit at Atherin, trying to inject more of his venom. Atherin dodged Rabe as well and tried once again to injure him. He managed to land a blow, the 'Demonsbane' cutting across his chest armor. Rabe yelped and slashed at Atherin, tearing his arm with his claws. He snapped at him again, hissing in rage and pain

Atherin switched the 'Demonsbane' to his left hand. It hurt like hell to hold it, but right now his right arm was mangled. It was a good thing he was ambidextrous, even if he did prefer his left hand. He waited for Rabe to make some sort of move... Rabe snarled, clamping his jaws onto Atherin's shoulder again. He injected more of his venom, the paralyzing toxin starting to slow Atherin slightly.

Atherin took a moment to realize that Rabe had bitten him again. He was starting to get numb due to the cold rain pounding down on him. When he realized that Rabe was trying to paralyze him he once again smashed the hilt of the sword into Rabe's face. Rabe released him instantly, grabbing at his face. He roared loudly, kicking Atherin, his rear talons slicing him. Atherin stumbled backwards a little, but kept from falling over backwards. He knew that this would be a long, drawn out fight as neither of them would go down easily. Rabe snarled loudly, lunging again. He roared and raked Atherin with his claws, trying to tear him apart.

Atherin cringed again, but still didn't go down. He traded blows with Rabe again, not sure if he hit and did any damage or not. But when this battle ended, he'd make sure that he was the last one standing. Rabe growled, snapping at Atherin again. He whipped his tail around, slamming it into Atherin as hard and fast as he could. Atherin was slammed into a nearby tree. He gasped when he fell forward. He kept from falling though. He knew that if he did, then he'd be dead in a heartbeat. Rabe lunged again pinning him to the tree. He snarled in Atherin's face, digging his claws into his chest.

Atherin cringed when Rabe did that. He tried again to injure Rabe to get him to let go. He managed to nick the Organoid on the throat, the 'Demonsbane' doing more damage and pain than Raven's silver dagger. Rabe snarled in pain, before he lunged and clamped his jaws onto Atherin's shoulder again. This time, however, he injected no venom. Instead he tore back, ripping his fangs from Atherin's flesh, leaving deep slashes. He clawed at him as well, trying to weaken him further.

Atherin cried out in pain again. He again tried to injure Rabe. His left arm was still good and he was going to keep using it, even if Rabe mangled it. He tried once again to slash at Rabe's chest plates, but he couldn't get it any deeper than the first time. Rabe shrugged off the blow. He snarled and sank his jaws into Atherin again, tearing backward, trying to cause as much pain as possible.

Unbeknownst to Rabe was that he was causing Atherin a lot of pain. He tried again to injure Rabe, trying to ignore the pain erupting from his shoulder. He didn't have to try hard as he was still numb from the seemingly never ending storm. Rabe snarled again, putting his clawed hands on Atherin's chest and pushing him into the tree. He was now trying to suffocate him.

Atherin couldn't hear his ribs beginning to crack but he could feel them. His breathing was getting harder but he wasn't going to just give up. He again slashed at Rabe with the sword. His right hand was already burned by the silver, so a little more of burn wouldn't hurt...too much, so he tried to thrust it in a little deeper using his damaged hand. Rabe shrieked and released Atherin, leaping backwards. He grabbed at his chest, screaming loudly in pain.

Atherin kept himself from falling, but moved away from the tree to keep from getting pinned again. He made another attempt at Rabe while he was preoccupied with the pain that the silver caused. Rabe dodged and swung his tail, knocking Atherin's legs out from under him. He then pounced on him, trying to get a clear shot at the vampire's neck again.

It was a risky move that terrified even Atherin for doing it, but he did it. When Rabe made another attempt at his neck he blocked Rabe with the 'Demonsbane', the Organoid biting down onto the sword instead of his neck. Rabe screamed in pain, releasing his hold on the 'Demonsbane'. He didn't, however, release Atherin.

Atherin tried again to hurt Rabe. He could still move his good arm and he was going to do as much damage as he could. He took a swipe at Rabe's legs, hoping that he could cut some important wires to make it harder for the Organoid to move. Rabe jumped back, avoiding the blade. He roared at Atherin, whipping his tail back and forth like a cat.

Atherin got back up before Rabe could pin him again. He was starting to breath harder now. He didn't know how long they had been fighting, but he was starting to wear down. He was getting tired and his reflexes were getting slower.

Rabe growled. "You're weakening vampire..." he mocked, "... it won't be long until I'll be feasting on you and your human host..." he hissed, licking the blood from his muzzle.

Atherin just glared at Rabe. He was _**not**_ going down. Period. End of story. He looked closely at Rabe, trying to find a weak point he could exploit. If he could just get a good swipe at his legs he could slow the Organoid down. But, he remembered how Rika died... Her blood had congealed and slowed her down as well as started to suffocate her. It should be happening to Rabe too, it was only a matter of time before it became more evident. Rabe snarled, sinking into the shadows. He circled Atherin, waiting for the right moment.

Atherin couldn't follow Rabe when he sunk into the shadows. He still couldn't hear and he was so cold that he swore that his functions were starting to slow. Rabe reemerged behind Atherin. "I might not even have to wait for the blood loss and venom to drop you; hypothermia will drop you for me..." he hissed, before sinking back into the ground.

Atherin feared that Rabe might be right about the hypothermia. He knew that he'd get sick, especially in his condition and the rain. He waited again for Rabe to appear to try and finish the fight. Rabe reemerged and slammed into Atherin, slamming to the ground. He roared loudly, making another go for his neck.

Atherin just barely managed to get the sword back up to protect his throat. Rabe bit down on it again and Atherin tried to push it into the Organoid's mouth a little further. Rabe released the blade, roaring loudly. He was starting to slow from the congealing of his blood, but he wouldn't let it stop him. He snapped at Atherin's good arm, trying to wound him so he wouldn't be able to hold the heavy sword. Atherin cringed when Rabe snapped at his arm, but it wasn't going to stop him from using it still. He tried again to injure Rabe when his head was coming back down to snap at his arm again.

Rabe avoided it and swiped at him with his talons, trying to tear him to shreds and increase the amount of blood he was losing. Atherin tried not to show how close he was to either going unconscious or a cold sleep. He wasn't too sure which at the moment, but he wasn't going to show Rabe. He some how managed to get Rabe off him, he wasn't sure _how_ but he did. He stood back up and readied himself for another round. Rabe hissed, snarling in anger at Atherin. He decided to wait, and let the hypothermia and blood loss weaken his prey further.

Atherin could tell what Rabe was planning to do. He wouldn't just wait for hypothermia and his blood loss to get to him. He made a dash toward Rabe again, landing another blow due to the Organoid's slowing reflexes. Rabe roared in pain and whipped Atherin with his tail, before he sank into the shadows, waiting for his prey to weaken.

Atherin was starting to get dizzy, his body further weakening and his breathing getting heavier in an effort to stay conscious and standing up. He knew that Rabe would wait this out now as he couldn't locate the Organoid when he sank into the shadows. Rabe circled Atherin in the shadows, biding his time. Despite the silver in him, he had the time to wait for Atherin to weaken.

Atherin couldn't take it any more. His body just couldn't support him any more and he fell to the ground on his knees. He was breathing heavily, his vision was blurring and he was cold and numb beyond belief. He only had one chance left to do anything to Rabe before his body completely gave out on him. Rabe reemerged from the shadows behind Atherin. He leaned down to his level and smirked darkly. "You're time is running out, vampire..."

Atherin couldn't do any more than weakly hiss at him. In his condition he couldn't even growl at the black Organoid. He was waiting for just the right moment to get to Rabe. Rabe smirked. "You're mine now..." he hissed, licking his lips and growling deep in his throat.

Atherin could barely move, but he still had enough energy for one more attack. He was just biding his time for the right moment. Rabe leaned down and nipped at him. "Just give up Atherin, you and your 'host' will die no matter what you do..." he hissed loudly, smirking.

Atherin didn't react to Rabe nipping at him. He was still waiting for the right moment to attack Rabe. Rabe's smirk widened. "I've been waiting a long time for this..." he growled, licking his lips as he prepared to tear into Atherin.

With the remaining energy that Atherin had he quickly reversed the 'Demonsbane' so the blade was pointing at Rabe's throat. Before Rabe could vanish he quickly thrust the blade through the Organoid's neck. Rabe gasped hoarsely and collapsed onto his side, the blade having pierced his main 'artery'. With the last of his strength he sank into the shadows, not wanting to die dishonorably in front of his prey.

Atherin finally breathed a sigh of relief knowing that Rabe was dead. There was no way that the Organoid could survive something like that. He 'tried' to stand back up to get out of the cold, numbing rain but he couldn't. His body finally refused to do what he wanted and he collapsed to the ground, in danger of hypothermia, if he didn't already have it, and massive blood loss...

Raven ran over to Atherin. He had gone inside Horai, knowing he couldn't help. He knelt down beside Atherin and lightly shook his shoulder. "Atherin?"

Atherin didn't respond to him. His eyes were still open but he had gone unconscious due to the blood loss and creeping hypothermia. Raven shook his shoulder again. "Atherin? Come on, answer me!"

Atherin regained himself momentarily and blinked slowly. He still couldn't hear Raven due to the thunder, but he knew that he was worried about him. Raven managed to help him stand. He didn't know what was wrong with him, but he figured it was hypothermia judging by how cold he was. Atherin slowly registered the fact that he was standing. His skin felt like it was burning from the sheer contrast of his body heat compared to Raven's. But he started to stumble as Raven 'tried' to guide him back inside.

Raven managed to keep him standing. "Come on Atherin... just a little further..."

By now Atherin didn't need to hide how cold he was. He started shivering violently, and he couldn't stop his teeth from chattering. He was only half aware of what Raven was saying to him, but he wasn't concerned with it. That concerned Raven greatly. "Come on Atherin, don't give up on me now..."

Again Atherin was only so much aware to what Raven was saying to him. He still continued to stumble to where ever Raven was taking him. At the moment, he didn't really care where he went. Raven helped Atherin back to his room. He sat him down on his bed, and turned the heat up. He made sure to cover him in his blanket, knowing he had severe hypothermia. Atherin was still shivering violently. His wet clothes weren't helping his state either. He was cold, 'hungry' and on the verge of just shutting down and going to sleep.

"I'll be right back Atherin..." Raven said, leaving the room to find Ryoko to help Atherin.

Ryoko was in the library. It was quiet and cool and even more so now that it was raining outside. Her hearing wasn't any better than Atherin's so she couldn't hear the fight and the rain washed the smell of blood away. Raven ran into the library and spotted Ryoko. "Ryoko! You have to come help Atherin!" he shouted, knowing how serious Atherin's condition was.

Ryoko was over to Raven in an instant when she heard him. "What about Atherin?" she asked urgently. She knew that he wouldn't like it if she just read his mind to find out what was wrong.

"We were attacked in the garden. Atherin's badly injured and hypothermic. He needs help now."

Ryoko nodded before she took off to her room to gather some of her medicine. It would give Raven just enough time to get back to Atherin before she returned. Raven turned and started back towards Atherin's room. He was getting increasingly worried, but he knew that Ryoko would be able to heal him.

Ryoko finished gathering what she needed and started off towards Atherin room. She couldn't get through to him with mental messages and she had even gone so far as to try and 'Read' it but all she received was white noise. He was either already unconscious or just about to lose it. Raven decided to check on Atherin. He walked in and saw Atherin about to fall. He immediately caught him, trying to keep him from hurting himself any further.

Atherin had finally lost consciousness and wouldn't be waking for a while. After getting the vampire back into the bed and lying him down did Ryoko enter, carrying a bowl and some vials and gourd flasks filled with her medicine. "Can you tell me exactly what happened while I get the excess water off him?" She asked as she set everything down and started her task.

Raven nodded. "We were sitting out in the garden, when Rabe attacked. He went after Atherin and I, but targeted mostly Atherin. I was nearly knocked unconscious, but Atherin told me to go inside Horai before I got too badly hurt. I'm not exactly sure what happened after that, but Rabe clearly hurt him badly. I'm sure Atherin killed him; there was a large pool of Vareix blood by him that was congealed.

Ryoko nodded as she siphoned the water off of Atherin and into the bowl beside her. She noticed how bad his wounds were and coupled with his hypothermia he could very get an infection. "Raven, Sweetheart? Could you go get me the medical bandages please? I'm almost done getting this freezing water off him and then I can start cleaning his wounds."

Raven nodded and got up, walking to the medical room. He grabbed some gauze and bandages, along with some medical tape and brought it back to Atherin's room. "Here Ryoko, I hope its enough..." Raven said, handing her the supplies.

"Thanks. I hope it's enough as well..." she said as she took the items from him before returning to tending to Atherin. She had finished siphoning the water off him and was now tending to his numerous wounds. She cleaned them out gently with the water that she could make, not risking using what she had already siphoned. The blood/water mixture was also put into the bowl. When she had finished cleaning them she put a strange pinkish colored paste on the wounds before wrapping them up. When she finished that she started to mix up another type of medicine before she turned to Raven. "Do you have any wounds that need looked at?"

Raven shook his head 'no'. "No, I don't have wounds. Atherin took the worst of the attack..."

"That may be so, but you're still gonna take this medicine. You were out in the rain too, and I'm not gonna chance two people being sick." She said as she handed Raven a small vial of medicine. It was a clear deep red color but he wasn't going to chance getting Ryoko mad at him. Raven nodded and drank the medicine. He nearly gagged at the horribly bitter liquid. He had to struggle to keep it down; it was even worse than Ibeyla's sickeningly sweet medicine.

"Sorry Sweetheart, forgot to tell ya its a little bit bitter." She said as she forced the medicine down Atherin's throat as well. He didn't react to the medicine, but Raven was sure that he would if he was conscious.

"Little bit bitter?" Raven said sarcastically, "That about made me sick..."

"You'll be alright Raven. It'll keep you from getting sick if you have a virus in your system from being out in the cold." She said as she siphoned the remaining water off of Atherin's bed and blanket and off of Raven's clothes.

Raven nodded. "I know... but it was still horrible..."

"I know it doesn't taste good, after all the best medicines are bitter and taste horrible." She said lightly. "Anyways, can you watch him for a little while? I'm going to let the others know what happened and make some more medicine. We'll need it in the next few days..."

Raven nodded. "I'll watch him..."

"If I'm not back within the next hour make sure to give him this medicine again. It's potent, but in his condition he needs it about once every hour until he regains consciousness again." Ryoko explained before she left to make more of the bitter red medicine.

Raven nodded and looked over at Atherin. He'd be sure to give him the medicine if Ryoko didn't return soon. About ten minutes later Atherin opened his eyes slightly. He was still at risk of loosing his consciousness, but at the moment he was semi-conscious. Raven noticed and looked over at Atherin. "Atherin? You awake?" he asked quietly, concerned with his condition.

Atherin didn't react to him. He was doing his best to just hang onto his consciousness. He was still cold and shivering and slightly numb but he hoped that it passed soon. Raven saw him shaking and got up. He walked out of the room and grabbed a few extra blankets from the closet, and brought them back in. He kicked the door shut and walked over to Atherin's bed, covering him in one of the blankets.

Atherin felt a little warmer when another blanket was put on him. As his vision was still blurry from blood loss but he knew that it was Raven that was with him. He wanted to say 'Thanks' but he just didn't have that kind of energy.

Raven sighed and went to get up. He put his hand on the arm of the chair to push himself up, but it was wet and his hand slipped off. The sharp corner caught his wrist, leaving a small wound. He yelped; the bleeding wound stinging slightly. Atherin's glazed and blurry eyes slowly looked over to where Raven was. He could tell that he was bleeding and wanted to tell him to 'not waste it' but at the moment, he didn't have the energy to speak.

Raven looked over at Atherin and saw the look he was giving him. He got up and walked over to Atherin, offering him his bloody wrist. He figured warm blood would help warm him back up, and needless to say he needed the energy. Atherin slowly reached for Raven's offered wrist. It was hard for him to move as he was aching in pain. He didn't need to bite down to make another wound; he just 'fed' from the one already there. The crimson liquid warmed him a little, but he was still cold.

Raven didn't look away this time, worried about Atherin's condition. He didn't like how he wasn't moving all that much, or how cold he still was. It just wasn't normal for him. Atherin continued to 'feed' but it was slowly. Something that wasn't normal for any vampire. He still had glazed over eyes and his face was starting to flush with a fever, despite how cold he was.

Raven noticed this. That really concerned him. He was also concerned that Atherin hadn't stopped 'feeding'. Raven tried to pull his wrist away, not wanting him to take too much blood from him. Atherin protested at his 'meal' being taken from him, but in his state he couldn't do much more than give Raven an empty stare. His breathing was getting a little ragged due to the pain and now coming fever, but his breathing wasn't as bad as it could be.

Raven stopped the bleeding from his wrist, wrapping it in gauze. He was getting increasingly worried about Atherin; he was now completely sure he was sick with something. Atherin was still watching Raven's bandaged wrist. His fever induced mind kept him from thinking too hard. All it wanted was 'food' and it was right there in front of him. Raven saw that Atherin was still looking at his now-bandaged wrist. "No more Atherin..." Raven said, knowing that if he let him take too much he very well could get sick as well.

Atherin ignored what Raven told him. He wasn't thinking straight at the moment and he just wanted to 'eat'. If he had the energy to get up he'd do so but he couldn't. Raven narrowed his eyes slightly. He didn't like the way Atherin was looking at him. "Don't give me that look Atherin..." Raven said, "I'll let you 'feed' again later, but right now you need to get warmed up..."

Atherin wasn't too happy with that answer. He was still cold and not warming up very quickly. His hypothermia was severe and would take a while to reverse. Raven noticed that Atherin wasn't warming up as quickly as he should have been. He covered him in the remaining two blankets, trying to get him to warm up more quickly.

Atherin felt the weight of addition blankets on him. They were helping him slightly. If nothing went wrong or took a turn for the worse he'd be warmed back up some time in the morning. Someone would have to watch and make sure that nothing happened to him. Raven sat back down on the chair, watching to make sure Atherin's condition didn't worsen. He knew Atherin was sick, and that he'd probably have to watch him for the next few days.

A couple of hours had passed since Atherin had been brought back in. His body was slowly starting to warm back up, but without the blankets he wouldn't be able to produce his own body heat. He had fallen back asleep shortly after Raven sat back down. He had staid asleep...until now that is. It was about four in the morning and his fever had just taken hold of him real good. He woke up when he felt as if he was on fire. But as he was still hypothermic his body was still cold to the touch.

Raven had fallen asleep, but was woken up when Atherin accidently kicked him while he was trying to move. Raven woke up and yawned, looking over at Atherin. "Dracula? What are you doing?" he asked sleepily.

Atherin didn't answer him; too busy trying to get the hot blankets off his fevered body. He was in a precarious situation as he still couldn't maintain his own body heat due to the hypothermia and his fever was starting to sky rocket from being sick where if he got too hot he could possibly die from it.

Raven got up and pulled one of the blankets off of Atherin. He knew that Atherin getting too hot was just as bad as being too cold. Atherin still thrashed around trying to get the remaining blankets off of him. He was burning up and starting to breathe a little quickly as well as breaking out in a cold sweat. His fever induced mind didn't understand the concept of being sick, especially not when he was this sick.

Raven was getting more and more worried about Atherin's condition. He decided to try and give him some of Ryoko's medicine. He got up and picked up the vial, walking over to Atherin's bed. Atherin didn't notice that Raven had picked up the medicine; too busy struggling against the blankets still. They had some how tangled around him and now he was having a hard time getting free.

Raven held out the vial of medicine. "Atherin, you need to take this..." he said, hoping he'd do what he was told and take it.

When Atherin smelled the bitter medicine that Raven was trying to get him to take he struggled and thrashed around even more violently. He was desperately trying to get away from it and the blankets.

Raven sighed. Atherin was not making this easy. "Will you just stop squirming around and take it?" Raven groaned, not really wanting to fight with him so early in the morning.

Atherin shook his head 'no'. He wasn't going to just take it knowing how bitter it was. He tried again to get away from Raven and the nasty medicine, but his blankets made that task...difficult...for him at least. Raven sighed. This wasn't going to be easy. "Atherin... just make it easy on yourself and me and take it..."

Again Atherin shook his head 'no'. His mind only knew one thing. That medicine tasted nasty and he wasn't going to just take it, not without a fight at least. Raven sighed again. "Alright Atherin, you're making this difficult..." he said, trying to hold him down to take the medicine.

Atherin struggled again, but his body was too weak to actually do anything more than that. He still refused, however, to open his mouth to take it. Raven narrowed his eyes. Atherin was _not_ making this easy. "Atherin will you stop acting like a child and take it?"

Atherin turned his head to the side to avoid taking it. He wasn't really listening to what Raven was telling him as his brain didn't really feel like making sense of anything. Raven would have to try something else to get him to take it. Raven was getting annoyed. Atherin was acting like a stubborn child. He tried to get him to stay still, but accidently cut himself on one of the vampire's claws. Atherin's eyes immediately alighted to where Raven was now bleeding. He was so close yet so far away from 'eating' again...and the sweet smell of Raven's blood wasn't helping any.

Raven saw the look Atherin was giving him. He suddenly had an idea. He moved his bleeding arm a little closer to Atherin, putting his 'plan' into motion. If Atherin was in a right state of mind he'd have been able to see through Raven's plan, but he wasn't...and so fell for it. He was only thinking of his next 'meal' and nothing else as he 'tried' to get closer to the bleeding arm. Raven took the chance to stick the vial of medicine into Atherin's mouth. He made sure the medicine got into his mouth, so he couldn't spit it back out.

Atherin struggled again when Raven did that. He tried not to swallow the horribly bitter medicine, but he had to as Raven wouldn't let him spit it out. He hated the way that it felt when it slid down his burning sore throat and the after taste was just as bad. After Raven was sure Atherin had swallowed the medicine, he pulled the vial from his mouth. "Good boy..." he said jokingly, glad he didn't have to fight with him again.

Atherin growled weakly at him and before Raven could move he had latched onto his injured arm. He refused to let go of Raven's arm. Raven yelped, not expecting Atherin to do that. He knew better than to try and pull back and just let him do what he wanted.

Atherin hadn't bitten into Raven; he had just started to lap up the blood that was coming from the wound. There was no need to waste any more of it by causing another wound to form. Raven sighed and let Atherin 'feed', knowing that it'd help Atherin. Also, there wasn't much he could do anyway even if he didn't want Atherin 'feeding' off of him.

Atherin held the wound a little tighter and closer to him. He didn't realize how much blood he had actually lost while fighting against Rabe. The blood was helping him to warm up from the hypothermia but it wouldn't cause his fever to go away. Raven let Atherin 'feed' off him for a few more minutes before he tried to stop him. He didn't want to lose too much, after all he had to look after Atherin.

Atherin was extremely reluctant to let go. His mind knew who Raven was and that he was just trying to help him, yet at the same time it demanded blood to try and get rid of one sickness to his body. Needless to say when Atherin didn't release him, Raven got a little worried. "Atherin... let me go..." he said, trying to get him to let go.

Again Atherin was reluctant, but let Raven go. He couldn't help that his mind wasn't functioning properly. Raven immediately tried to stop the bleeding from his injured arm. At least Atherin had let him go. Atherin could feel his face flush with fever again. His mind became fuzzed over and a splitting headache came from out of no where. He groaned quietly as he 'tried' to roll over onto his side, but couldn't due to being tangled in the blankets still. Raven put his hand on Atherin's forehead, trying to tell his temperature. He felt warmer than he should be, so he decided to go get some cool cloths for him.

Before Raven could leave the bedside Atherin held onto his shirt sleeve, trying to stop him from leaving. What Raven didn't know was that vampires tended to be a little...clingy when this sick... Raven turned and looked at Atherin in confusion. He tried to pull his arm away, not understanding what he wanted. Atherin didn't let go when Raven tried to pull away. At the moment he didn't understand the concept of 'he'll be right back'. Raven blinked and looked at Atherin oddly. "Atherin? Is something wrong?" he asked, unsure of what he wanted.

Atherin tried to talk, but his now sore throat prevented that. It hurt to even try to form words. He just held onto Raven's sleeve tighter, trying to prevent him from leaving. Raven tried to pull away again. He didn't know what he was trying to do. He was a little concerned that he might try and 'feed' off him again. "Atherin... come on, let go..."

Atherin just looked at him with glazed eyes but refused to let go of Raven's sleeve. He tried weakly to pull him back over to the bedside or chair, not wanting Raven to just leave him alone. Raven blinked and stared at Atherin. "Come on Atherin... let go..." he said, trying again to get free.

Atherin just held on tighter, well...as tight as he could anyways in his condition. If Raven really wanted to he could easily wrench himself out of his grip. Raven managed to pull his arm free, still looking at Atherin oddly. He didn't understand why he was acting so oddly. Atherin started to panic a little. He couldn't reach Raven any more and he couldn't move due to the blankets that refused to let go of him, but he'd try to reach Raven again any ways. Raven blinked and took a step closer to Atherin. "Atherin? What's wrong?" he asked, not sure what was wrong with his friend.

Again Atherin grabbed Raven's sleeve and held onto it, trying vainly to keep Raven from leaving. He could only half understand what Raven was saying and even if he could understand he wouldn't have been able to answer any ways. Raven blinked and stared at Atherin again. "Atherin, what's wrong? Tell me if something's wrong..." he said, not knowing what Atherin wanted.

Atherin tried to tell Raven to 'stay' but he just couldn't form the words. He was able to mouth it though, but not speak it. Raven blinked. "You want me to stay?" he said, thinking that was what Atherin wanted.

Atherin nodded slightly. He didn't want to be alone in this condition. "Atherin, I'm just going to get some water and a few towels... I'll be back in a second..." Raven said.

Atherin still didn't let go. In his fever induced state he didn't understand that he'd be right back. He shook his head 'no' again, trying to keep him here. Raven pulled his arm free of Atherin. "I'll be right back, okay?" he told him, turning to leave.

Atherin tried to protest when Raven turned to leave, but Raven had already left. Raven walked to the medical room and gathered up a few towels and clothes and a bowl of water. He returned a few minutes later to Atherin's room with the items. Atherin panicked a little when Raven left but calmed slightly when he returned. His fever was picking up and unbeknownst to him his fire ability was running rampant inside him, causing his temperature to start to sky rocket again.

Raven soaked some of the clothes in the cool water and put one of Atherin's fore head to help with his fever. The cloth helped a little to cool him down a little. However, because he was just about literally burning up it quickly became hot and useless. Raven got up and turned down the heat a little. He didn't want Atherin to get too warm in his condition.

Atherin felt a little better when Raven turned the heat down. He was still burning up though and still in a cold sweat, his breathing got a little shallower and his headache worse. Raven changed the cloth on Atherin's forehead and sat down, yawning. It was still really early in the morning, and wanted to sleep, even though he knew he couldn't with Atherin the way he was. Atherin wasn't about to fall asleep again for a while, not with the way he was feeling. He was hot and cold at the same time and felt so awful that he wished he WAS unconscious so then he wouldn't have to feel it, his sickness took a turn for the worse when a sudden brutal wave of nausea hit him.

Raven looked over at Atherin. "Are you okay?" he asked, even though he knew he probably wouldn't answer. Atherin didn't dare open his mouth for fear of getting sick. He shook his head 'no'. Raven got up and walked over beside his bed. He didn't know what to do; he'd never had to care for a sick vampire before.

Atherin tried to ignore the nausea and after a few minutes it subsided. There was still a threat of it coming back though. His headache made his head feel like it was about to split open. He felt completely and utterly miserable. When he noticed that Raven was near him again, he once again grabbed his sleeve to prevent him from leaving. Raven sighed. Atherin was acting oddly clingy, and he guessed it was because he was sick. He pulled the chair over beside his bed, so he could keep a better eye on him.

Atherin let go of him when he pulled his chair over. He could tell that his face was flushed red with fever and his fever was only getting worse. He hoped that it would break soon... Raven yawned again. He just wanted to sleep, but he couldn't; Atherin's condition prevented him from doing that.

Atherin started to cough. His condition was starting to deteriorate a little. He just wanted this fever to break so then both he and Raven could get some rest. Raven watched Atherin worriedly. His condition seemed to be getting worse, and he was getting concerned. After about half an hour later did Atherin's fever break. It was now about six in the morning and Atherin finally fell into a light sleep. His condition was getting better, if only just. Raven had fallen asleep literally seconds after Atherin had. He was exhausted from caring for Atherin.

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_**Author's Note:**_ Yay! Rabe's finally dead! :D But poor Atherin…sick with hypothermia and Raven having to take care of him. What's going to happen next? You'll jus have to wait to find out! Please Review! They make my day and make me update faster!


	43. Sickness and Something Unknown

_**Disclaimer:**__ I do NOT own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe__, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul, Rika, Avea, Serrer and Libelle do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME**__ as do the towns Redai and Jurei._

_**Author's Note:**_ Hey everyone! Poor Atherin….sick with hypothermia… But at least Rabe's finally dead! And poor Raven, having to take care of a sick vampire when he has no idea just what to do ^^; Hopefully things will start to look up for them!

We thank those of you that Reviewed!

* * *

Ͽ Sickness and Something Unknown Ͼ

A few hours passed since Atherin's fever had broke. He was still fevered, but not in danger any more. His hypothermia had been cleared during the few hours rest. Raven was still sleeping; his arms crossed and head down. He hadn't moved an inch since he had fallen asleep, exhausted. Ryoko checked in on them. She checked Raven first to make sure that he didn't catch a cold or anything. She put a blanket over him before checking on Atherin. He was still fevered and flushed so she gave him some more medicine before leaving again.

Raven woke up shortly after Ryoko left, the weight of the blanket having woken him. He opened his eyes and yawned, stretching slightly. Atherin was still sleeping, not even noticing that his sister had forced him to take the bitter medicine again. Raven yawned. He was still tired, but not enough to go back to sleep. He still wasn't sure about Atherin's condition, and therefore didn't want to back to sleep.

A few minutes later did Atherin wake up, but just barely. His headache had woken him and now that he was even remotely awake he could feel how much pain he was in, not only from aching from being sick but from Rabe's wounds that hadn't healed from drinking Raven's blood. He didn't really feel like moving, least he put his body in more pain.

Raven looked over at Atherin. "Morning Dracula..." he yawned.

"...It's...morning...?" Atherin asked hoarsely, his voice just barely beginning to come back.

Raven nodded. "Yeah... I'm sure when in the morning, but it is morning..."

Atherin didn't nod back, knowing that it'd only make his headache worse. His vision was a little blurry as well as his mind. His eyes were still glazed over and his face still flushed. He hated being sick and he hoped that it passed soon. Raven sighed. Atherin still seemed bad. He checked his temperature again, making sure his fever had indeed broken.

Atherin was too miserable to even be bothered by the fact that Raven was making sure his fever had broken. He was sort of aware of the fact that his fire ability was raging inside of him which attributed to why he was feeling like he was burning up.

Raven looked at Atherin. "Do you need anything?" he asked.

"...Some...w-water...would be nice..." Atherin replied quietly, fearing that if he spoke any louder he'd lose it again.

Raven nodded and sat up. He left the room and got a glass of water. He returned after a few minutes and walked into the room, kicking the door shut behind him. "Here's some water, Atherin..." he said, walking over to his bed and holding out the glass.

Atherin gave Raven a look that said 'And you think I can reach that let alone sit up?' He was too sore and lacking energy to sit up by himself. Raven blinked. "You need some help?" he asked. Atherin nodded slightly. He needed help sitting up. Raven sat the water down on the nightstand and helped Atherin sit up. He was careful not to put too much stress on his still-healing wounds. Atherin winced a little as Raven helped him sit up. The claw marks on his back hurt when he sat up. Now all he needed was for Raven to hand him the glass of water. Raven turned and grabbed the glass. He handed it to Atherin, making sure he wouldn't drop it.

Atherin cringed visibly when he tried to grasp the glass with his right hand, now remembering the fact that he had touched the blade of the 'Demonsbane'. He put that hand back down and took the glass from Raven with his left a little shakily. He managed to drink the water without spilling any and without hurting his still healing neck. Raven made sure Atherin hadn't reopened his wounds. The last thing either of them needed was for him to lose more blood.

Atherin finished the glass of water after a minute or two. He didn't want to drink it so fast that he either choked on it or reopened his neck wound. "...T-Thanks..." He said quietly and just loudly enough for Raven to hear. Raven nodded. He took the empty glass from Atherin, and sat it on the nightstand. Atherin wavered a little. If Raven wasn't there to hold him up he'd have fallen back down by now. He felt weak and that was most likely from his blood lost.

Raven made sure Atherin wasn't going to fall. He looked at his wounds again, and decided that blood would help them heal faster. He pulled off his glove and offered Atherin his wrist. Atherin didn't even question or look over to Raven. He was basically running on auto-pilot and just every now and then switching back to manual. He took Raven's wrist and just managed to pierce the skin to start 'feeding'. Raven didn't turn away again, still unsure of his condition. He also wasn't sure if Atherin would have the presence of mind to stop if he started taking too much.

Atherin continued to drink, but slowly. He, again, didn't want to open the wound on his throat back up from swallowing too fast. Right now Raven was right, he didn't really have the presence of mind to stop himself. Raven didn't try to stop him just yet. He knew Atherin needed the blood badly to heal his wounds. But if he started taking too much he'd have to stop him or risk him draining him. Atherin continued to 'feed'. He wasn't aware of how much he was taking as he usually would have been. But in his state of mind it was the last thing he was thinking about. Raven was getting a little dizzy, but he didn't stop Atherin. He knew that he needed the blood, and the sooner he was well, the better. Atherin continued to drink, making no moves to stop himself. He tightened his grip on Raven's arm again in a vain attempt to keep his 'meal' from being pulled away from him again.

Raven was a little alarmed by that action. He tried to pull away, not wanting Atherin to take too much. Atherin growled weakly when Raven tried to pull away. He didn't want to let go of his 'meal'. Raven panicked slightly when Atherin didn't release him. He was really lightheaded now, and if he lost too much more blood he would pass out. Atherin regained himself momentarily and realized what he was doing. He quickly released Raven's wrist, hoping that he didn't panic him too much. Raven pulled his wrist back immediately, trying to stop the bleeding. He was needless to say a little panicked.

Atherin could tell that he had panicked Raven some what. "...S-Sorry..." Atherin said quietly. He didn't want Raven to fear him because his fevered mind couldn't understand the fact that Raven was _not_ 'food'. Raven was still trying to stop the bleeding, but looked up when Atherin spoke. He was still a little panicky from Atherin's actions. Atherin looked down when he saw that Raven was still panicking from what he had subconsciously done. He felt bad for what he had done and hoped that Raven didn't take it as if he had really meant it... Raven finally got his wrist to stop bleeding and looked up at Atherin. He was shaking a little from the blood loss, more than a little dizzy.

Atherin didn't notice that Raven was watching him again. His fever had taken control of his mind again and right now he was on the verge of sleeping again. His breathing was a little shallow again as his sickness took over again. Raven wrapped some more gauze around his wrist to keep from aggravating the wounds. The last thing he needed were for the punctures to get infected.

Atherin wasn't able to keep his eyes open for much longer. He wavered again, not being able to keep sitting up by himself. Instead of risking hurting himself he tried to lie back down. Raven looked over at Atherin. "A-Atherin? Are you alright?" he asked, still a little nervous.

Atherin shook his head 'no'. His fever had spiked suddenly and he could feel it. He thought for a moment that it could just be his fire ability, but he had vaguely noticed that the two burning sensations felt different. It was his fever that was affecting him that much he knew. Raven decided it was time to get Ryoko to look at him; he didn't know what to do for Atherin. "I'm going to get Ryoko, Atherin..." he told him, turning to leave.

Atherin didn't have time to protest Raven leaving. He was out the door before he could try to stop him. Raven half-staggered into the kitchen, and found Ryoko. "Hey R-Ryoko, I need your help w-with Atherin..." he said.

Ryoko stood up from where she was at the table. "Do you need my help before I go tend to him?" She asked a little worried about how pale he was.

It took Raven a moment to register what she meant. He shook his head no. "Atherin needs your h-help more than I do r-right now..."

Ryoko looked skeptical but didn't argue with him. "Just make sure to eat something sweet to keep from passing okay?" She said as she placed mango bits in front of him before she went to check on Atherin. Raven ate a few pieces of the fruit before he left and found Ibeyla. He took some of her medicine, and borrowed the flask from her incase he needed it. He walked back to Atherin's room to check on him.

Atherin had fallen back asleep by the time that Raven had returned. Ryoko had given him more medicine again since his fever had spiked, and he took it from her with out question...but Raven didn't know that. She had also fixed the blankets so then they weren't all tangled up and he could move easily. When Raven walked in she was changing some of the more bloodied bandages.

Raven shut the door behind him and turned to Ryoko. "How is he?" he asked.

"He's so-so... His fever is a little high again, but I think so long as we watch it it'll go back down. Other than that he's probably in pain due to the wounds he sustained..." Ryoko replied as she switched the cooling cloth on him.

Raven nodded. "I'm sure he is... he was wounded really badly..."

Ryoko finished wrapping up Atherin's wounds before turning back to Raven. "I can tell that he was a little reluctant to let go of you... For both letting you go to get supplies and 'feeding'..."

Raven nodded. "Yeah he was a _little_ reluctant to let go..."

Ryoko sighed. "Please understand that it wasn't intentional, for either of them."

Raven nodded. "I knew he didn't mean it, but I couldn't help but panic a little..."

"I can understand that..." She said quietly, looking back to her brother.

Raven looked down at his wrist. It was feeling a little strange, but he guessed it was because of the scratch from last night. Ryoko looked back to Raven. "Is there something wrong?" She asked, noticing how he was looking at his wrist.

"My wrist feels a little weird is all..." Raven answered.

"Let me take a look at it... It's possible that it might feel a little weird because he might have taken a little too much on accident."

Raven nodded and held out his wrist. "It feels like it's a little numb or asleep..." he told her.

Ryoko looked at his wrist closely, trying to find anything that would cause it to become numb. She couldn't find anything wrong with it. "I don't see anything wrong with it... I think he just took too much is all." She said as she released his wrist.

Raven nodded. It felt different than if Atherin had just taken too much, but he didn't say anything. Ryoko could tell that there was something else on his mind and she was going to find out. "You sure you're okay?" Raven nodded but didn't say anything. He rubbed at his wrist a little, trying to coax feeling back into it.

"Raven...I can tell you're lying."

Raven looked at her and sighed. "It just feels different than if he took too much is all..."

"Different how? I know it's probably a dumb question to you, but I wouldn't know." She said trying to get enough information so then she could look it up in the library later.

"His punctures feel weird... the area around them is a little numb..." Raven said.

"...A little numb around the punctures...? I've never heard of that before... But I'll find out about it okay? So don't worry."

Raven nodded. "I think he may have just damaged a nerve is all. It'll heal..."

"Alright, but I'll still check for any information."

Raven nodded. "Yeah, thanks Ryoko..."

"I think he'll be alright if I left now... I'll go see if I can find anything out in the library... If something happens just send me a mental shout and I'll be here as quickly as possible." She said as she stood up. Raven nodded and sat back down on the chair. He was 'hoping' to get a little more sleep. Ryoko made her way to the library...she some how didn't think that Atherin had damaged a nerve, but she just wanted to make sure. Raven fell into a light sleep, but light enough that if Atherin tried to wake him he would.

About an hour later did Atherin begin to stir. He groaned slightly as he tried to move into a more comfortable position. He wasn't aware of the fact that he had hit Raven on accident while shifting around. Raven woke up immediately. "Dracula, are you awake?" he yawned.

Atherin looked over his shoulder when Raven spoke to him. He had a sleepy glaze over his eyes, but he was awake...well...kind of... He shifted again so then he was facing Raven to be able to talk better...if his voice allowed him to. He didn't want to say too much at a time least he lose it again. Raven rubbed at his wrist again. "You must have done something wrong when you bit me, Dracula... my wrist feels strange..." he said, looking down at his bandaged wrist.

Atherin gave him a sleepy/confused look. Even in his fevered state he shouldn't have hurt him... "...H-How...so...?"

"For about an hour after you bit me, the area around your punctures was numb..." Raven said.

That confused Atherin too. He didn't ever recall puncture wounds being numb... "...Was...n-numb...?"

Raven nodded. "I thought maybe you might have hit a nerve or something..."

"...P-Possible..." Atherin replied quietly. He couldn't stand answering in one or two word sentences but his throat wouldn't allow any more than that. Raven rubbed his wrist again. It was still a little numb, but not as bad as before.

"...S-Stop that..." Atherin said quietly, not wanting Raven to irritate the wound too much.

"I'm not touching the wounds themselves, Atherin, calm down..." Atherin was still nervous about it, regardless of whether or not Raven was touching the wounds. However, he didn't argue about it.

Raven sighed. "I'll be fine Atherin..." he said, "There, I stopped, happy now?" Atherin nodded his head. He felt more at ease if Raven didn't mess with them.

"Don't worry... I'll be fine..."

Atherin nodded again, not chancing saying too much at the moment. He could tell that he was still fevered, but he was feeling much better than he was earlier. Raven looked down at his wrist again. The wounds were now starting to tingle, most likely an effect of the numbness beginning to wear off. Atherin watched Raven as intently as he could. His fever was making focusing rather difficult. He was worried that perhaps he had indeed hit a nerve...he hoped that he didn't...

Raven moved his hand a little. Nothing felt different, so Atherin couldn't have hit a nerve. So he had to have done something when he had bitten. But what, he wasn't sure. Atherin was starting to drift again off again. Not drifting as going back to sleep, just not being able to concentrate for more than a few seconds, but he did notice that Raven was making sure his hand was still working. "...Everything...alright...?"

Raven nodded slowly. "Yeah... I just can't figure out what's wrong..." he said quietly.

Atherin took a moment to comprehend what Raven was saying before he replied. "...Maybe...a nerve was...pinched...?"

Raven shook his head no. "I don't think that's what happened... I can still move and feel my hand, so that can't be it..."

"...Then...I d-don't...know...w-what's wrong...w-with it..." Atherin said slowly and quietly, trying not to upset his sore throat.

"Me either..." Raven said, still looking down at his wrist. Some feeling was returning to it, but not as fast as he would have liked.

Atherin could tell that Raven was bothered by this, hell, he was bothered by this! He didn't know what was going on or what he had done but he didn't like. Raven sighed, unable to get any more feeling back into his wrist. He didn't know what was wrong, and it worried him. He was afraid Atherin may have accidently done something wrong in his dazed state.

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_**Author's Note:**_ I know that this is a short chapter but at least Atherin's starting to feel a little better. And just what is wrong with Raven's wrist? Please Review! They make my day! :)


	44. New Ability

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do NOT own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe__, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul, Rika, Avea, Serrer and Libelle do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME**__ as do the towns Redai and Jurei._

_**Author's Note:**_ Hey everyone! It looks like Atherin's on the road to recovery! Let's just hope that things continue to go smoothly for him. And just what is wrong with Raven's wrist? You'll just have to wait and find out!

We thank those of you that Reviewed!

* * *

Ͽ New….Ability… Ͼ

The day came and went more smoothly than the morning had. Atherin's fever was under control and his hypothermia had all but disappeared. It was now around ten the next morning, and so far the day had been pretty good. Raven woke up early the next morning. He got up and got some breakfast, and after eating went to check on Atherin. "Hey Dracula? You up?" he asked, knocking on the door.

Atherin didn't answer, didn't even growl at him like Raven thought he would. He was either still in a deep sleep or unconscious... Raven hoped that it was the former... Raven was a little concerned when Atherin didn't respond. "Atherin? Are you alright?" he asked, knocking again.

Again no answer, which worried Raven further as he at _least_ expected the vampire to growl at him this time… Raven was getting more than a little worried and opened the door. "Atherin?" he asked again, shutting the door behind him. He couldn't see due to it being nearly pitch black, but he didn't want to turn on the lights either.

Atherin still didn't answer but Raven could now hear his gentle breathing. Great...he had gotten worried for nothing... Atherin was just too deep in sleep to hear him. Raven sighed. Atherin was just sleeping. He leaned against the wall, unsure of what to do now. After half an hour pass did Atherin start to stir and wake up. He was a little confused when he saw that Raven had some how entered his room without him even noticing it. However, he wasn't going to concern himself with it, especially not with his aching head.

Raven had sat down and dozed off slightly in the chair. But he woke up when Atherin did. "About time Dracula..." he yawned.

"...Sorry... I was...t-tired..."

"I bet... you didn't even twitch when I walked in..."

"...Yeah? Well...don't get...use to it..." Atherin joked slightly, before going into a small coughing fit.

"Are you alright?" Raven asked, still worried about his condition.

"...Y-Yeah... This...s-sickness won't...j-just pass quickly..."

Raven nodded. "Do you need anything?" he asked.

"N-Not...at the...m-moment..."

"Okay..." Raven said, getting up. He turned on the lights a bit, just enough for him to see, before he sat back down.

Atherin shielded his eyes when Raven turned on the lights before he adjusted to them. It was a little silent, which was probably due to the fact that Atherin was still trying to wake up. However, something woke him up quite suddenly. A pang of 'hunger' hit him, most likely trying to get more blood to heal himself a little faster. Raven looked over at Atherin and blinked. "You alright?" he asked. Atherin shook his head 'no' slightly. He wasn't alright, he was 'hungry' and after the mishap yesterday, was a little nervous that he'd make the same mistake again.

"What's wrong?" Raven asked, getting concerned for him again.

Atherin knew that Raven wouldn't just drop it, he never did, so it was just best to tell him right away and get it over with. "...'Hungry'..." He replied quietly.

"Oh..." Raven said. He was still a little worried from last night, but now that Atherin was more aware he felt a little better. He got up and sat beside him. He pulled off his glove, un-wrapping the gauze, before offering him his wrist. Atherin sat up and when Raven offered him his wrist he took it without hesitation. His body over ruled his mind in this, thus making his conscious disappear for a moment or two.

The moment Atherin bit down, Raven knew something was wrong. There was a weird feeling spreading from the bite; an odd warmth and numbness. "Atherin stop!" Raven yelped, knowing something was very wrong.

Raven's words fell on deft ears. Atherin's need for blood by far over ruled what he normally would have done. He didn't let go, not knowing that there was something wrong and that he was panicking Raven. Raven started to panic when Atherin didn't release him. There was a strange feeling spreading from his bite, and that scared him. His arm had gone numb, and he was finding it difficult to move. His heartbeat was starting to slow, making him tired. Something was serious wrong...

Atherin finally regained himself and noticed immediately that something wasn't right. He released Raven and for a split second thought he saw something around the wounds, but it quickly disappeared. "...R-Raven...? You...okay...?" He asked, hoping that he hadn't done any serious damage.

Raven didn't respond, looking blankly at the floor. He was swaying slightly, getting tired. His breathing was a little ragged, and his entire body was numb and weak. He tried to talk, but all he managed was a quiet groan. His eyes were half closed, as if he was about to fall asleep. The fact that Raven wasn't responding to him panicked Atherin a little. He tried again, hoping that he'd get some response from him. He shook him slightly, thinking perhaps he had taken too much blood and that he was just tired, his voice had decided to quit on him and so he couldn't use it at the moment. Raven groaned weakly, before his eyes closed and his body went limp, collapsing to the floor.

Needless to say Atherin was in a full blown panic attack when Raven collapsed. He quickly knelt beside him and flipped him onto his back. He tried to find a pulse but it was just barely there and his breathing was faint too. He seriously thought that he had taken too much blood from him and had put him on death's door. Raven couldn't react to Atherin; he barely even acknowledged his presence. He couldn't move and couldn't feel, and he wanted nothing more than to sleep.

Atherin knew better than to try to force his blood down Raven's throat in the condition that he was in. If anything that would only make things worse. He tried shaking Raven again, hoping that he'd snap out of it and respond to him. Raven groaned weakly, opening his eyes a crack. His eyes were glazed and dull, and he just looked up at Atherin blankly. The fact the Raven was barely reacting to him worried Atherin further. He tried again to get some reaction from his friend hoping that he didn't take too much blood from him. Raven just stared at Atherin, his blank gaze empty. He blinked slowly, before his eyes closed again, getting weaker.

Atherin panicked more when Raven closed his eyes and didn't react any further. After a few minutes passed Ryoko entered just to check in on them, when she saw that Raven was nearly unconscious and that Atherin was panicking she immediately went to try and calm him down. She could tell that Raven would be alright, but Atherin couldn't due to his fever. "Atherin...he's alright..."

Raven opened his eyes a crack and looked blankly up at Ryoko and Atherin. He was only just conscious, and was extremely weak and tired. Ryoko noticed that Raven had opened his eyes again. "See Atherin? He's alright... You didn't take too much..." She tried to reason with him. Atherin only nodded slightly, trying to convince himself of that fact.

Raven looked between them blankly, blinking slowly. He tried to talk, but he could barely make any noise above a squeak. Ryoko noticed that Raven was trying to say something but couldn't. "...I know I told you that I'd stay outta your mind but if you want I can communicate with you." She offered.

Raven just looked at her blankly, unable to really hear what she said. He groaned weakly, trying to move. "I guess that's a 'no'." She joked lightly. Atherin had finally calmed down but was still unable to tell what had happened.

Raven finally managed to sit up, wavering and unable to stay still. His eyes were barely open, his eyes still glazed over. Ryoko kept Raven from falling back over. "Don't stress yourself too much Raven..."

Raven didn't hear a word she said, still unable to think or properly sense anything. He looked over at Atherin blankly, his vision blurry and dim. Atherin already felt bad for not knowing what he had done to him earlier, and now that Raven was looking blankly at him made him feel even worse. He didn't know what to say to him. Raven cocked his head slightly, blinking his eyes slowly. He tried to talk again, but all that came out was a quiet groan.

"Raven...? Are you...gonna be okay...?" Atherin asked, now feeling a little better that Raven didn't seem mad at him.

Raven blinked and looked at Atherin. He honestly wasn't sure if he _was_ going to be okay; he didn't even know what had happened in the first place! Atherin took that as a 'no'. He didn't know what he had done or if he had damaged Raven somehow. Raven looked down at the punctures Atherin had left. Barely any blood was trickling out of the wounds, and he wasn't sure if that was a good or bad sign. Atherin glanced to where Raven was looking at. He too noticed that there was hardly any blood coming from the wounds. That worried Atherin too, not knowing what on Zi he had done. Raven looked back up at Atherin. He tried to ask what had happened, but he couldn't talk still.

Atherin could kind of tell what Raven was asking him. "...I don't know Raven... This...hasn't happened...b-before..." Raven nodded slightly. That was for sure. His vision was clearing a little at least. Atherin sighed quietly. He still felt bad for not knowing what he had done. He hoped that Raven would feel better soon...at least well enough to talk again.

Raven tried to talk again. "A-Ath...?" he managed to choke out, his voice weak.

Atherin looked up to Raven when he tried to talk. "Just...wait for it...to pass... You seem to be doing...better..."

Raven rubbed his eyes, trying to get his vision back to normal. "A-Atherin?" he managed to say, looking at him oddly.

"Yeah...?" Atherin asked quietly. He was worried to say the least that Raven would be mad at him, even though he had no idea what had happened himself.

"W-what happened?" Raven asked, "W-why didn't you... s-stop?"

Atherin looked at Raven in confusion. He didn't recall being asked to stop. "...I don't know what...happened... And...I don't...remember you asking me...to stop..."

Raven blinked. "Y-you didn't... stop when t-things started g-going wrong..." Atherin just shook his head 'no'. He didn't recall Raven asking him to stop.

"T-that was probably the p-problem..."

Atherin wasn't too sure that him not stopping was the problem. If things had started to go wrong while he was 'feeding' then...that couldn't be the problem. He had the sinking suspicion that _**he**_ was the problem some how...

"W-what's wrong?" Raven asked quietly, regaining more awareness as the unknown aliment began to wear off.

"...I think...I'm the problem... S-Something's...not right..." Raven nodded. Something was very wrong, but he wasn't sure what.

Before Atherin could say much more Ryoko returned. She had left un-noticed to gather a few medicines and the book that she was currently reading. "It seems that you're doing better, but are you feeling alright?"

Raven nodded slowly. "Y-yeah..." he answered quietly.

Before Ryoko sat down herself, she helped both boys up and onto the bed before she sat down on the chair. "Could you tell me what happened exactly?"

Raven nodded. "A-Atherin said he w-was 'hungry', so I-I let him 'feed' off m-me. Almost im-immediately, s-something went w-wrong..."

Atherin remained quiet, wanting to hear what had happened since he didn't quite remember it. "Went wrong how?" Ryoko asked curiously.

"W-well... I lost f-feeling in my arm and it s-spread throughout my b-body... I t-tried to tell A-Atherin to stop, but he d-didn't re-release me..."

Ryoko thought for a moment. She hadn't ever heard of something like that before. "I don't ever recall hearing something like that happening before... I'll do some more research and let you two know if I find anything." She replied as she got up to leave, leaving the medicine that she had brought on the night stand.

A few minutes later there was a knock at the door. "Joyce? Atherin? Are you two alright?" Donnie asked, opening the door and walking inside. Atherin didn't respond right away, as he was still trying to wrap his fevered mind on what had just happened. He knew now that there was something seriously wrong with him and it scared him.

Donnie shut the door and walked over to them, sitting in the chair. "Ryoko said something was wrong... are you both okay?" he asked.

Atherin wasn't okay. He was sick and fevered still and now he had just found out that there was something wrong with him. He shook his head 'no', silently telling Donnie that he wasn't okay. Donnie blinked. "What happened? Ryoko mentioned something happened to Joyce..."

"...I don't...know what happened..." Atherin answered truthfully.

Donnie sighed. "Well... that's concerning..."

Atherin looked down; "Sorry... Perhaps...it'd just 'c-cause I'm sick..."

Donnie nodded. "I understand..." he said, "I won't press it any further..."

Atherin remained silent. He could feel his fever starting to rise a little again. He still felt hot, but that was due to his still raging fire ability. At least he wasn't too tired yet. He hoped that his sickness passed soon. Donnie noticed this. "You should lay down Atherin..." he advised, "...moving around is making your fever worse..."

Atherin nodded and lied back down. He maneuvered around Raven, who was still sitting on his bed, before getting comfortable. He wasn't so tired that he'd fall asleep soon, but his body was just plain tired from the fight with Rabe. He knew that he'd be sore for a few more days...even a vampire couldn't recover that quickly...especially not since whenever he had tried to get blood from Raven he had done something to him. Donnie got up and helped Raven over to the chair, so Atherin had more room. Donnie just stayed standing, not really having anywhere else to sit besides the floor.

"...You didn't have to...move him... He wasn't bothering me...or taking up too much room..."

"It's alright..." Donnie said, "B-besides, if I-I collapsed again I wo-won't fall over..." Raven added.

Atherin only nodded, as he really wasn't in any mood to argue with either of them. He had started to think back to what he thought he saw when he had released Raven. He thought he had seen it somewhere before, but he couldn't place where exactly. Donnie looked over at Atherin, seeing his expression. "Is something troubling you, Atherin?" he asked.

Atherin looked up to him. He knew that he'd never be able to tell either of them other wise. One or both of them would be able to get it out of him and besides...he didn't like to lie to them anyways. "...I...thought I...saw something...around the wound when...I released Raven...but I'm not too sure..."

Donnie blinked and stared at him. "Like... a liquid or something?" he said quietly. Raven was looking at him oddly too.

Atherin thought for a moment. He had just let go and then started to panic so didn't get too good of a look at it. However, he was sure it was liquid-like. "Yeah..." Atherin answered quietly.

Both Donnie and Raven grew pale. They knew what was wrong. "Oh dear Eve..." Raven groaned, leaning his head back against the chair and sighing.

Atherin didn't like how the twins had gotten pale or what Raven had said. He wasn't thinking straight and so didn't know what was wrong. He was almost afraid to ask... "...W-What's wrong?"

Donnie swallowed nervously. "Uhh... w-well..." he stuttered, unsure of how to break it to him.

Atherin didn't like that either. It meant that they knew what was wrong with him and were worried about telling him. "Well?"

Donnie stuttered more, unable to work up the nerve to tell him. Raven finally just said it. "Y-you have venom, D-Dracula..."

Atherin just started at Raven for a long time, trying to comprehend what he had just told him. "...But...vampires don't..._have_ venom..."

"Well... a-apparently _you_ do..." Raven said, looking down at his punctured wrist.

"...But it isn't...p-possible... I'd need some s-sort of...organ or gland or something... And I'm pretty sure...I don't have e-either of those." Atherin tried to argue.

Raven and Donnie shrugged. "Maybe y-you're an exception..." Raven said.

"...I don't wanna _be_ an 'exception'," Atherin complained. He just wasn't in the mood for this now...

"Well... you seem to be... un-unless you have a b-better reason for why I-I just nearly passed out..." Raven said, crossing his arms. Atherin looked down. He didn't have any better of an explanation for it. However...if he _did_ indeed have venom then...he had a problem...

Raven sighed. "D-don't feel bad, Dracula..." Raven said, "... I-I'm fine now..." Atherin nodded, but he still looked worried about something.

Raven sighed again. "What's w-wrong?" he asked.

"...If I...really do have...venom...then how am I...supposed to 'feed'...without...injecting...you with it...?"

Raven shrugged. "M-maybe you can f-figure out a way t-to not inject me e-every time..."

"..." That meant a lot of trial-and-error on Atherin's part. He wasn't too comfortable about doing that to Raven.

Raven sighed. "Its o-okay Atherin, the v-venom you have doesn't seem to be h-harmful, so I'll b-be fine..."

Atherin only nodded slightly. He didn't like having venom. Until he could figure out how to keep from injecting Raven with it he'd have to be careful. He didn't know how much he had injected this time but it didn't seem like too much. And if that was the case then it meant that he had potent venom... Raven sighed again. "For t-the last time... I'm f-fine with it Atherin..."

"I hate being an 'exception'..." Atherin finally said.

Raven rolled his eyes. "You'll live..."

"...It means that there can be...other 'surprises'..." Atherin replied.

Raven sighed again. "Again, you'll live A-Atherin..."

"...You're not m-making me feel...any better about this... I...was already an 'exception'...with the fact that I have a slightly advanced healing ability... I just...never expected something...like this..."

"It's o-okay Atherin... you'll be f-fine..." Raven said.

"...I guess... Just...don't make me panic again the next time I 'feed' okay? I seriously thought that...I had taken too much..." Atherin said quietly.

Raven blinked. "S-sorry... I panicked, I wasn't s-sure what was w-wrong..." he defended.

Atherin sighed, "Well now we know what...the hell is wrong with me... It...scared the both of us..."

"There's n-nothing wrong with you, A-Atherin..." Raven said, wrapping some gauze around his punctured wrist.

"...It sure feels like...something's wrong with me..."

Raven sighed. "Well t-there isn't... don't beat y-yourself up over it..." Atherin only nodded slightly. It would take time to get use too. After all, vampires weren't supposed to have venom.

Raven suddenly smirked. "Maybe you're t-turning into a V-Vareix hatchling, Atherin..." he joked.

Atherin glared at Raven. "You better pray to Eve that that's not the case."

Raven rolled his eyes. "Why? Are y-you gonna nip me?" he joked again.

"It's a good possibility."

Raven sighed. "If you d-do, I might be tempted to s-step on you..."

"You wouldn't. You'd...feel bad about even thinking...about it."

"Not if you're n-nipping at me and b-biting me..." Raven shot back.

"You'd kill me if you were...to step on me. I don't think you'd...be able to live with yourself if you did so."

Raven thought for a moment. "Yeah... you're p-probably right..." Atherin quieted down a little after that. He was still trying to take in the fact that he had venom. It just wasn't...normal...

Raven sighed. "Stop thinking a-about it, Atherin. Its something y-you can't change, you'll just have t-to get used to it..." Atherin nodded slightly, not really listening to what Raven was saying to him. He seemed to have a bad streak of luck lately and he hoped that it ended soon. Raven leaned back in his chair. The fact that Atherin had developed venom concerned him, but seeing as it hadn't hurt him, he knew it wasn't dangerous…

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_**Author's Note:**_ I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! And I'm sorry that it's another short one -_-; If I had continued on it would have been uber long and it wouldn't have anything to do with what this chapter was about ^^; Anyways! Poor Atherin…finds out that he has numbing venom… And poor Raven! Having been his first 'victim'…


	45. Researching for the Answer

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do NOT own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe__, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul, Rika, Avea, Serrer and Libelle do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME**__ as do the towns Redai and Jurei._

_**Author's Note:**_ Hey everyone! Sorry for the late updates with my fics! D: have recently been trying to beat my Dragon Quest IX game and I am now tempted to go back and play my Dragon Quest VIII game I have also been working on a few fic called _Unbroken Heart_. Life has also been a big factor as to why I haven't updated so much. Work is just about killing me and I'm desperately looking for a new job, something in my field preferably. Anyways, to make it up to all of you, I did an extra long chapter that I hope you all enjoy!

Thanks to those of you that Reviewed!

* * *

**Ͽ Researching for the Answer Ͼ**

A few days had passed since Atherin found out that he had some sort of venom. He had spent every free moment he had trying to find any reference about it in the library, which was where he was at the moment, pouring over another book trying to find anything useful that would help him. A few minutes later Raven walked into the library. He sat down near Atherin. "Hey Dracula..." he said.

"Hey..." Atherin replied, not ever looking up at him when Raven sat down.

"Find anything?" Raven asked. Atherin shook his head 'no'. He hadn't found a thing about it and he was starting to doubt that he would.

Raven sighed. "I'd offer to help, but I can't read vampire..."

"It's alright... If it was documented then it'd be in older texts... These...are relatively new..." Atherin said indicating the tattered and frayed books and scrolls he had littering the table.

"If these are new, I'd hate to see the old ones..." Raven muttered.

"...Donnie has one or two, but...I'm a little afraid to pull them out..." Atherin replied. He knew that those texts were basically about to turn to dust. Perhaps he'd brave them and copy down the information so then it wouldn't be lost to time...

"Don't worry, Donnie can't really read vampire, so if you ruin one it wouldn't really upset him..." Raven said. Atherin nodded. Now was better than never if he wanted to find any information. He got up and cleared some of the books and scrolls off the table before going to get the musty old tomes and a whole bunch of paper and a couple of pens. Raven stayed at the table, knowing he was more likely to damage the books than help… Atherin first returned with the paper and pens, setting them down before going to get the tomes. He returned a coupled of minutes later carrying a rather thick and large tome that looked about ready to fall apart at the slightest of jolts or roughness.

"Don't drop that..." Raven said, seeing the book's deplorable shape.

"I know already!" Atherin replied as he gently set the book down. He sighed in relief when he saw that it wasn't going to just poof into dust. He carefully opened it, making sure to not damage it any further. He scowled a little when he saw that it was written in an ancient vampiric language. He could read it, but because of the state the book was in, as well as the ink, it would take him a little longer to get through it.

"How can you read that?" Raven said, looking at the writing on the damaged pages.

Atherin momentarily forgot that Raven was human and was talking about the damaged pages. "...It's not as hard as it would seem to be. Even though this is a much more ancient writing the roots of the words are the same. It's just a matter of deciphering the suffixes and prefixes." Raven nodded slightly, still finding it difficult that he could read the seemingly illegible book.

Atherin took Raven's silence as he understood what he had said. As he was reading the text, he was writing everything down, not even looking at what he was writing on the paper. His hand was just moving on its own, and Raven watched with a little fascination as symbols appeared along with pictures that only Atherin could understand. Raven looked at the book again, the words making no sense to him. It was like trying to read Ancient Zoidian... Atherin paid no heed to Raven, too absorbed in what he was doing to really pay any attention to him. He had to admit there were a lot of interesting things in the tome he was reading, and he hoped that it would also have something about his 'venom'.

A few minutes later Ibeyla walked in. "Hey guys..." she said, sitting down beside Raven.

"Hey Ibeyla." Atherin greeted still reading and copying down what was in the book. He still hadn't found anything on the venom yet, but he had read some interesting facts for his fire ability he'd have to try out later.

Ibeyla looked over at the book Atherin was reading. "What are you looking for?" she asked.

"Information, this is an ancient vampire text. There's bond to be something in here..."

"What exactly do you need information on?" Ibeyla asked, looking at the text.

Atherin stopped what he was doing and looked over at her. "...You...haven't heard what happened did you...?"

Ibeyla shook her head no. "No...why? Did I miss something important?"

Atherin was silent for a moment before answering her. "...Well...apparently...I have...venom..."

Ibeyla blinked. "Really?" she said, "That's really rare..." Atherin nodded. He didn't care if it was rare, he didn't like it.

"When did you figure out you had it? It's odd for a vampire to develop it so suddenly..."

"...Three days ago..." Atherin answered.

"Strange... my vampire friend Seph had venom. It developed really quickly like in you..."

"I don't like it. I have no idea how to make it stop or why in the name of Eve I developed it."

"Well, Seph learned to control it, so that she didn't inject it every time she bit. I'm sure you could learn to do that quickly..." Ibeyla said, "As to why... well, some vampires have venom to help keep their... well 'food' from escaping..."

"But I don't need to do that! So it doesn't make sense that I would develop it."

Ibeyla shrugged. "It's a rare trait; I'm not sure why you'd develop it..."

"...I hate having rare traits..." Atherin muttered. He was already considered an oddity because of his slightly advanced healing ability. Since he was a 'Berserker' he wasn't supposed to _have_ healing at all. He seemed to have 'Dream Seer' traits as well which was the only thing that could explain some of the hallucinations he had had. All in all, he was truly a rarity, which he hated.

"It's okay Atherin, there's nothing wrong with being different..." Ibeyla said.

"I know...but it doesn't mean that I have to like it."

"Well, you're just gonna have to get used to it, Dracula..." Raven said. Atherin sighed. He still didn't like having venom, but he'd eventually get use to it. When he saw that neither of them were going to say something he went back to reading and copying down the text to keep the information alive. Raven looked over at Atherin. "What are you reading, anyway?" he asked.

"Well...right now I'm reading about different fire techniques... All I could do before was create a fire ball and wave..." Atherin answered as he drew another picture while he was still reading.

"Great... just don't burn anything important..." Raven said.

"I won't. I'm not _that_ careless." Atherin replied as he continued reading. Even though he now knew why he had developed venom he was still curious about what was in the book, so he continued with what he was doing. Raven watched Atherin copy stuff out of the book. Ibeyla was skimming through another book she had pulled off the shelf, on a rare species of Organoid called Vampyore.

"Why don't you join the party Raven?" Atherin joked when he saw that Raven was the only one without a book doing something.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Shut it Dracula..."

Atherin chuckled slightly before turning to Ibeyla, still writing what he had just memorized. "Hey Ibeyla? Can I talk to you later?"

Ibeyla looked up from her book. "Okay, sure..." she said.

"Thanks." He replied before going back to what he was doing. With everything that had been happening lately he had almost forgotten what he planned to do tomorrow and he needed Ryoko out of the picture for a few hours. Ibeyla went back to reading her book on Vampyore Organoids, letting Atherin finish. Raven had leaned back in his chair, his eyes closed and head down as he 'tried' to take a quick nap. Atherin continued to read and copy the book. He wasn't even a fourth of the way through with it and he had already learned quite a lot from it.

Ibeyla looked up from her book. "Atherin, what did you need to talk to me about?"

Atherin looked up and stopped what he was doing. "Well...I have a favor to ask of you..."

"What is it?" she asked, cocking her head slightly.

"Well...could you keep Ryoko busy tomorrow?" he asked.

Ibeyla blinked. "Uhh... sure..."

Atherin saw that he'd need to explain a little further. "You see...tomorrow's her birthday..."

Ibeyla nodded. "Okay..." she said, "I'll keep her busy for you..."

"Thanks. I only need her gone for a few hours..."

"I'll be able to keep her busy..." Ibeyla said.

Atherin nodded. "You're gonna help me too right?" he asked Raven, but Raven didn't hear him, having dozed off. Atherin sighed and kicked Raven to wake him, though it wasn't hard enough to hurt him.

Raven jumped and nearly fell out of his chair. "What?" he snapped, wanting to go back to sleep.

"Ryoko's birthday is tomorrow. Are you gonna help me or not?"

"Do I have a choice?" Raven said sarcastically.

"No, but I thought I'd ask outta courtesy."

"I guess..." Raven yawned.

"Way to sound enthused." Atherin joked before going back to his book. Raven rolled his eyes, before he went back to trying to fall back asleep.

A few hours had passed and Atherin was still working on copying the book. He had switched hands when his right hand started to cramp. He had now copied about a fourth of it and knew that it'd take a few days to get it all done. Ibeyla was still absorbed into her book on Vampyore Organoids. Raven had fallen into a deep sleep, hardly noticing how much time had passed.

Atherin finally stopped what he was doing. Both his hands had finally given out on him. He saw that Raven was sleeping and he didn't want to be yelled at for waking him again. He noticed that Ibeyla was still there reading something. "What's that you're reading Ibeyla?"

"It's a book on Vampyore Organoids..." Ibeyla answered, not looking up from the book.

"...Vamp...yore...Organoids...? How come I have a horrible feeling about them...?"

"Well... they're a little aggressive..." Ibeyla said, "They are really dangerous, but really they can be quite friendly. My parents had a baby Vampyore named Flare. She was really friendly..."

"Dangerous? How so? They...kinda sound like Vareix or...vampires by their namesake..."

"Well, they are closely related to Vareix, but evolved to live in a different environment. They can be extremely dangerous; they hunt in packs and like to…'play' with their prey. They drink blood, and honestly look like a cross between a Vareix and a bat..."

"...A Vareix and a bat?" Atherin asked curiously. He hadn't heard of an Organoid that looked like that before... However...something did cross his mind when she told him that.

Ibeyla nodded. "They have arms that evolved into wings, and they sleep upside-down in caves like bats. They're also very social, and never go off alone. They usually don't kill their prey, and only take a few swallows of blood from sleeping prey, like a vampire bat. They're also very smart; Flare could understand Zoidian perfectly and even mimic my voice when she was only a few months old..."

"...They sound almost like...vampires in Organoid form... I know that Vareix are pretty close, but...these Vampyore sound a little closer..."

"Why do you say that? I mean, besides the need for blood and social bonds?" Ibeyla asked.

"Vampires...can hang upside down when we feel like it... And...Well...this picture in this book looks pretty convincing to me." Atherin said as he gently handed the book to Ibeyla to show her what he was talking about. It showed an ancient drawing of a vampire with bat like wings and the one next to it showing an ancient vampire morphing into a wolf. Apparently his ancestors had such things or they were trying to find a way to do so.

Ibeyla looked through the book. "Seph had a really rare ability to turn into a bird when she was a bit older..." Atherin sighed. With the way he was getting all sorts of rare abilities he hoped that he skipped this one. The transformation looked pretty painful to him.

Ibeyla opened back up her book on Vampyore Organoids. "I wish Flare was still around. I'm sure you would have liked her, Atherin. She's really friendly. Vampyore, if raised from birth, are completely harmless to people..."

Atherin took his book back from Ibeyla. "It sounds like I would have like her," he said as he skimmed his book about these animal transformations.

Ibeyla nodded. "She was very friendly. And since Vampyore locate through echolocation, she was always chirping and 'singing' as it was called..."

"Glad I don't have to do that," Atherin joked slightly.

Ibeyla chuckled. "Yeah... you could always where she was due to that and her habit of falling over everything..."

"Again I'm glad I don't have to worry about that," Atherin said as he stumbled upon an interesting picture.

Ibeyla nodded. "Flare was born blind, so she relied more heavily on her echolocation than most Vampyore. Normal Vampyore have excellent night vision, but don't like daylight..."

"That's similar to us vampires too... In fact...I see better at night than I do during the day...and I can only stay in the heat of the sun for so long..."

Ibeyla nodded again. "Vampyore are nocturnal, and rarely, if ever, stray out in daylight. But they can be trained to stay out in daylight, but only if they have something covering their eyes. They can use their echolocation and sense of smell to track during the day, not to mention they can hear heartbeats and see body heat..."

"...I had to train myself to be able to stay in the sunlight too... It's something that I don't want to experience again."

"I bet..." Ibeyla said, "I never had to train Flare. Since she was blind, the sun couldn't hurt her sensitive eyes..."

"...I don't know which I prefer more... Being awake during the day or at night... I feel...more comfortable and safer when awake at night but...you all are awake during the day..."

Ibeyla nodded in understanding. "I can understand that..." she said, "Flare was always asleep during the day, but ran around like crazy during the night..."

"In fact...when I first met you I didn't sleep that night...and if I did then it was only for an hour or so..." Atherin said as he started his copying of the book again.

Ibeyla nodded. "I figured you didn't. I had my suspicions when we first met..."

"And I tried my hardest to hide it too..."

Ibeyla chuckled. "Don't worry. I have a knack for spotting the tinniest details. You were doing a great job..."

"Thanks... I need to get back into practice with it... I have a feeling that after this whole Vareix ordeal the Imperial Army isn't just gonna let me go..."

"Don't worry, Karl, Raven and I won't let them do anything to you..."

"Prozen's already said that he'd keep it quite too...but I have the sinking feeling that I'll be drafted..."

"'Drafted' is a harsh word..." Ibeyla said, "... you'll probably be with us, so you won't have to worry..."

Atherin nodded. "It may be a harsh word, but it is the term for being forced into the military right?"

Ibeyla nodded. "I guess..."

"I don't mean to sound harsh but...it's not exactly...a good idea to put a vampire in a rather large group of humans with limited areas to go to..."

"I'm sure you'll be alright..." Ibeyla said.

"I hope so... I'll do my best to 'fit in'..."

"I'm sure no one will notice..."

Atherin just nodded slightly. He wasn't exactly looking forward to being in the military. It meant that his freedom was restrained. He was afraid that since Prozen knew about him, he'd keep him on an extremely short leash. He didn't know Prozen all that well, he had only heard about him.

"Don't worry Atherin, Prozen is very lenient. He'll no doubt let you do whatever you want, except for eating the other soldiers, of course..."

"I already know that Ibeyla." Atherin chuckled. "I wouldn't dream of jeopardizing my cover."

Ibeyla chuckled as well. "I know you wouldn't. You'll just have to be careful..."

"I know. I'll be as careful as I can."

"Good... I don't want to have to make something up if someone accidentally finds out..."

"Me either... It was hard enough just convincing Raven that I wasn't too dangerous..." Atherin said quietly indicating the still sleeping Raven.

Ibeyla nodded. "Well, Raven isn't the most trusting of people..." she said, looking over at Raven.

"So I've noticed..."

"Well, considering what happened to him, you can't blame him..."

"I know..." Atherin said a little downcast. The only people he trusted were here on Horai.

Ibeyla noticed this. "Is... something wrong, Atherin?"

"No. It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

Ibeyla narrowed her eyes slightly. "I can tell something's bothering you, Atherin..."

"It's just...I don't really trust...too many humans... Raven, Donnie and Karl are the exceptions and you're an Ancient Zoidian..."

"I can understand that Atherin..." Ibeyla said, setting down her book. Atherin nodded slightly. He was glad that he had someone to talk to about this. Raven tried to talk about it, but he wasn't so good with this sort of thing...

"Don't worry Atherin; we'd never do anything to betray your trust..."

"I know you guys wouldn't. It's just other people that I'm worried about..."

"Well, as long as you keep your 'secret' from getting out, you'll be fine..."

Atherin nodded again. "None of you were supposed to know my 'secret' either... At least not that soon..."

"Sorry..." Ibeyla said quietly, "You know, you could have gotten away by just saying you were an Ancient Zoidian..."

"I could have...but then I'd be lying again when you two really _did_ find out... It was just easier to tell you and then try to prove that I wasn't dangerous."

Ibeyla nodded. "That makes sense..."

"It made things a whole lot easier with the fact that you didn't mind," Atherin replied.

"I'm not afraid of vampires... I told you that I had several vampire friends..." Ibeyla said, "I was just surprised with how quickly Raven warmed up to you..."

"I was surprised too... …Never thought he'd actually like me."

Ibeyla chuckled. "Me either..." she agreed, "... I was really surprised when he let you 'feed' off of him..."

"...I'm surprised that he still does... I've already told him that it was a one time thing but he just waved it off..."

"Well, I think he's afraid that if you go into town, someone will find out..."

"...People have found out before... But I think that the other townsfolk just waved them off as either crazy or delusional..."

"I know... but especially after your run in with that 'hunter', I think he worries about you getting caught..."

Atherin sighed. "I...never expected to run into another 'hunter'... As only me and my siblings are left in this area, there isn't any...need for them... Not that there was ever a need for them in the first place..."

Ibeyla nodded. "But now that one knows you survived, I fear you'll be in danger every time you go into public..."

"Me too... By the time this whole Organoid mess clears up, there'll be a small 'hunters' band put together..."

Ibeyla sighed. "I fear you're right..." she said quietly.

Atherin thought for a moment. "What exactly did you do to get that 'charm' off of me? And if it's possible could you tell me what to do in case I need to get one off me again and you're not there?"

"Oh, I just said 'release' in Zoidian..." Ibeyla said, "If you ever get a 'charm' like that on you again, just say 'Freigabe' and it'll come off..."

"...'Frei...gabe'..." Atherin repeated. Though...when he said it all the papers he had setting on the table blew away and scattered all over the place. "Some how...I don't think that was supposed to happen..."

Ibeyla blinked. "No...it wasn't..." she said, "But if you can't get it to work, you could always have Raven say it..."

"Yeah... I don't know if I should be the one to tell him it...as I'm assuming that this will happen every time..." Atherin said indicating the papers he now had to pick up.

Ibeyla chuckled. "Don't worry; I'm sure you'll be able to get it to work..."

Atherin sighed. "What on Zi is wrong with me? I develop a rare mutation and now have venom, and I can't speak Zoidian or something like this happens..."

Ibeyla giggled. "Don't worry, this happens to every non-Zoidian who tries to speak Zoidian, or so I think. That's why no one speaks Zoidian anymore..."

"...I think it's because of my vampire heritage... What's the word that humans use...? 'Magick?'"

"You mean 'magic', right?" Ibeyla corrected politely.

"They sound the same!" Atherin exclaimed. He had been doing so well too... This is the first slip up in a few weeks too...

"I know its okay..." Ibeyla said, "... when Major Schubaltz first found me, I couldn't even speak human. It took me at least a month before I stopped speaking in Zoidian..."

"Lucky you... It took me a year to make heads or tails of it and then another to actually form words and speak it..."

"Well, Zoidian is similar to human speech, so it was easier for me to learn it..."

"Again, lucky you... I had just lost my accent about a month before I met you..."

"At least you learned it. Seph never learned to speak Zoidian, neither did Luna. That's why I learned vampire, so I could talk with them..."

"I miss hearing my native language... I bet you do too?"

Ibeyla nodded. "I do... a lot..."

"I wish I could help..."

"It's okay... considering what just happened when you said one word, I'd hate to see what would happen if you said a full sentence..."

"Me too... Knowing my luck I'd hit us with all four elements..."

Ibeyla chuckled. "That wouldn't be good..."

"No, it wouldn't be... I'm scared to say a full sentence as well."

Ibeyla chuckled. "Don't worry, I won't teach you enough Zoidian to put you in any danger. I taught Flare to speak Zoidian, and it was a disaster..."

"I can only imagine." Atherin joked. He got up from his chair to start picking up the papers that had been blown all over the place.

"Yeah... she even started hiccupping fire once..." Ibeyla said, "...THAT was bad..."

Atherin chuckled. "Considering that I already _have_ a fire ability that would be bad if I said the wrong thing..."

Ibeyla nodded. "She nearly burned our house down. Not to mention scared Diablo, my Vareix..."

"...I nearly burned our house down too... Luckily dad was able to put it out...before it got too outta control..."

Ibeyla chuckled. "I had a feeling something like that would have happened with your ability..." she said, "... but poor Flare didn't know what she was doing, due to her being blind. She followed Diablo around, and since he was scared of fire, he made me hold him to get away from Flare. I couldn't put him down for a second around Flare or he'd panic..."

"Poor things... I was six when I learned my fore ability... Scared me half to death 'cause it felt like I was in an inferno..."

Ibeyla nodded. "It took me a few hours to get Flare to stop repeating the word that kept making her spit fire. And of course by that time Diablo wouldn't stop clinging to me even though Flare had stopped breathing fire..."

"That's one of the techniques that his book talks about. Fire breathing... Wonder if I could teach myself how to do so..." Atherin mused to himself.

"I'd be careful... if you do it wrong, you can seriously damage your lungs..."

"I know... It says that in the book... I don't think I'll try it until I get the hang of things better..."

Ibeyla nodded. "Good. We don't need you hurting yourself..."

"Yeah... I don't want to hurt myself either... After I read a little more of the techniques I'll probably go learn some of the easier ones... Eve knows we need all the help we can get..."

"Yeah... but now that we only have one Vareix to deal with, that gives us a bit of an advantage..."

"...Not when that Vareix is about fifty or sixty times stronger than Rabe..."

"I know... but you still have the 'Demonsbane'..."

"...Yeah...I know I still have that Eve forsaken sword, but I don't want to solely rely just on it."

Ibeyla nodded. "I understand..." she said, "I still have some of the powder, so you can use that..."

"Figured you still had some, but...I get this really bad feeling that Driacoul won't be effected as much... We've never fought him before...and the legend didn't give too many details about that subject..."

"Yeah... Driacoul is going to be difficult..." Ibeyla said, "I've... run into him before..." she said almost too quietly for him to hear.

Atherin heard her as if she had just said it normally. "You...have...? I won't press the matter though... I can tell that it bothers you..."

Ibeyla nodded slightly. "He... killed two of my best friends... back in Zoidian times..."

"...Sorry... I didn't mean to bring up bad memories..." Atherin said quietly.

"It's okay... you didn't mean too..."

"...Lets get off this subject... We're no where near ready to fight against him. There's no point in worrying ourselves about it now."

Ibeyla nodded. "You're right... we shouldn't be worrying ourselves..."

Atherin had finished picking up the papers that had been scattered and started to put them back in order. "...For some reason...I don't think fire and this venom is all that I'll learn..." He voiced as he shifted the papers back in order.

Ibeyla nodded in agreement. "Yeah... I have the feeling you'll probably develop a new ability too..."

"...I'm a little nervous as to what though... I seem to have some sort of mutated gene that's along the strand of these rarities... I don't want any more of them."

"It's not all bad, you know..." Ibeyla said, opening back up her book on Vampyore Organoids.

"I know... But I feel like I'm being over loaded with abilities..."

"You'll learn how to use all of them, I'm sure..."

"I hope so. Not only do I have this...venom...to learn how to use, I've also have some new fire techniques that I wanna try and learn... I don't think I can handle any more at the moment..."

"I doubt you'll have any more abilities suddenly appear..." Ibeyla reassured him, "But you're right. The first thing you need to do is learn how to control your venom..."

Atherin nodded. He was still looking for something in the ancient tome, hoping that there was some sort of drawing in it of some anatomy of a vampire that had venom like he did. Ibeyla went back to reading her book. She had just gotten into the section about Vampyore social habits, and was very interested in it. Ibeyla didn't notice what Atherin was doing, too busy reading about Vampyore social and feeding habits.

Atherin booked mark where he was and searched the index, trying to see if there was anything about venom in the book. He found something interesting that might help him. He gently flipped to the page to read it. Atherin read intently. It seemed that this was what he was looking for. Right now it was just talking about the effects and side effects, but he wasn't about to skip it. There might be something important in there...

Ibeyla looked up from her book. "Find something interesting?" she asked.

"...Umm...does 'deadly' count as 'interesting'?" he asked.

Ibeyla blinked. "Yeah, I suppose..." she said.

"...Well...according to this book...my venom has the potential to be deadly..." Atherin replied quietly.

"It does?" Ibeyla said, cocking her head slightly.

Atherin nodded. "It says...depending on what I want to use it for it could be harmless, like just the numbing like before, or it could be...deadly, as in some sort of neurotoxin..."

"A neurotoxin?" Ibeyla said quietly, "That's... really bad..."

"...I know..." Atherin replied quietly, his eyes down cast. He was now really nervous about this venom and hoped that the book had something that would tell him how to inject or not.

"But, it'll only be dangerous if you want it to be... at least I think that's how it worked... I'm not sure; Seph was always vague when it came to her venom..."

"That's what the book says... If I want it to be dangerous it will be... But...until I can control it...I won't 'feed' from Raven again..."

Ibeyla nodded. "That's a good idea..." she said, "... but you know you'll have to 'practice'..."

"I know I will... The best thing I could practice on would most likely have to be from animals... Or see what else they suggest in this book."

Ibeyla nodded. "I remember Seph saying something about how she was able to control her venom. She said that if she just didn't think about injecting her venom, she wouldn't..."

"But I'm not Seph... I need to get use to the fact that I have venom before I don't think about it..."

Ibeyla nodded. "I'm sure you'll get control of it in no time..."

"I hope so... I don't want to hurt anyone..." Atherin said as he continued to read.

"I don't think you will, Atherin..."

Atherin only nodded, looking for any more information that would help him. "...I'm gonna have to tell Raven when he wakes up won't I...?"

Ibeyla nodded. "Yeah... you will..."

"...I wonder how he'll take it..." Atherin wondered quietly.

"I doubt he'll mind..." Ibeyla said. Atherin remained silent. He hoped that Raven didn't mind either.

"Don't worry Atherin... I don't think Raven will even care..."

"...But it'll still freak him out... I mean...this venom...is extremely similar to snake venom...from my understanding... If that's the case then...perhaps there's a way to make an anti venom? Just in case?"

"Most likely..." Ibeyla said, "Maybe Ryoko and I could..."

"Perhaps... It would make me feel better if we had it on hand...just in case...I slip..." Atherin said.

Ibeyla nodded. "Of course..."

Ibeyla went back to her book. She started looking through a few diagrams and sketches of Vampyore that had been drawn in. Ibeyla flipped through the book, finding the section on Vampyore traits. She had always found Vampyore senses fascinating.

Atherin nodded slightly before returning to the book. He was now reading a summary about injecting it and why. He could also tell that there was a drawing on the next page. He hoped that it helped and that it had notes on it. Atherin flipped to the diagram in his book. He quickly located what he was looking for and read the notes that had been written in. Apparently all vampires had the venom glands but over time only a certain few retained it as the need for it diminished. It was interesting as he followed the venom track from the gland to where it was injected from and how. It was quite apparent to him that he was one of the rare few that still had working venom glands. From what Atherin could tell because he was one of the few that still had it, his venom was pretty potent and as luck would have it the author had put in an anti venom formula. It made things easier for Ibeyla and Ryoko. A few minutes later, Raven started to stir. He opened his eyes and yawned, stretching in his chair. He hadn't gotten much sleep lately, so that nap had helped greatly.

"Moring Sunshine." Atherin teased as he continued to read.

Raven glared at him sleepily. "Shut it Dracula..." he yawned.

Atherin chucked at him, completely ignoring Raven's glare. Now was as good as ever to tell him what he had found... "...We found some...information...about my venom..."

"I'm going to go and read out in the garden..." Ibeyla said, taking the book on Vampyore Organoids and leaving the library.

Raven looked at Atherin a little oddly. "Why do I get the feeling its something I don't want to hear?" he said.

Atherin looked down. "Because it's not..."

Raven blinked. "Oh..." he said quietly, "... well, tell me anyways..."

"...It seems that...my venom can be a...neurotoxin...if I want it to be..." Atherin replied quietly.

Raven stared at him for a moment. "...really?" he finally said. Atherin nodded slightly. He didn't want it to be true either but it was...

"That's... a little concerning..." Raven said.

"...I know it is... But...there is an anti venom in here..." Atherin said indicating the book in front of him.

"That's good..." Raven said his gaze downcast. The fact that Atherin's venom could be dangerous was disturbing news. Atherin didn't say anything more. He didn't like it, not one bit. He wished that he didn't have venom. He'd gladly swap it for the painful looking animal transformation than venom that could kill his best friend if he was even a little careless. Raven sighed quietly. He had hoped that Atherin's venom had been harmless, but after hearing the news, he was more than a little worried.

Atherin looked away slightly. He knew that this was worrying Raven, it worried him too. "...Sorry... I had hoped that it was harmless too..." Raven didn't answer him, still deep in thought.

Atherin felt horrible when Raven didn't answer him. He felt...isolated...when Raven did this. He always felt so much more self conscious of himself when Raven wouldn't answer when they were discussing something important...especially when it was about him... Raven sighed again. He was extremely concerned about this new venom. Atherin couldn't take sitting in silence any longer. Raven wasn't telling him what was wrong and he didn't know what to say to him. Raven didn't look up. He was really worried that if Atherin went into a blood lust, he would inject him with that venom, which could very well kill him. When he saw that Raven wasn't making any moves to talk to him Atherin quietly got up. He didn't know what to do and thought that it'd be better if he just went somewhere else... Raven looked up when Atherin got up. He looked at him oddly, not really knowing what he was doing.

Before Raven could stop him or say something to him Atherin disappeared. He could only wonder why until he thought of how he must have been making Atherin feel by not saying anything to him... Raven got up immediately. He feared he had upset Atherin by not talking. He walked to Atherin's room and knocked on the door, unsure if he had gone there.

There wasn't any answer when Raven knocked. Then again...he didn't expect one... He'd have to actually check to make sure that Atherin wasn't just ignoring him. Raven opened the door when he didn't receive an answer. Atherin wasn't inside, which concerned him. He shut the door and started towards the hanger, hoping he was in there.

Atherin was some where in the hanger, but as it was rather large it would take some time to search for him...if he didn't leave before Raven found him. When he noticed that Raven was heading toward the hanger he took refuge somewhere in the Whale King, not that Raven knew. Raven started to look around the hanger. He wasn't going to give up until he found Atherin. Atherin had taken refuge in the Whale King's cockpit. He was sitting in one of the seats just thinking and trying to pull himself back together. This was the first time in five years that he had ever let his emotions show this much...

Raven had looked through all the possible hiding places in the hanger, but still there was no Atherin. He decided to check the Whale King, whose mouth was open. Atherin was too lost in his own thoughts to notice that Raven had boarded the Whale King. There was only so much that he could take before he reached his breaking point. Raven checked the cargo bay and the passenger areas, but still couldn't find Atherin. He began making his way towards the cockpit. Atherin still didn't notice Raven. He was too focused on trying to put himself back together.

Raven reached the cockpit. He hesitated momentarily, before he knocked on the closed door. "Atherin?" he asked, unsure if he was inside. Atherin didn't answer him, not really hearing anything anyways. The door to the cockpit wasn't locked so Raven could enter if he wanted to. Raven knocked again before he opened the door. He didn't enter immediately, not knowing what Atherin's mood was. Again, Atherin didn't hear Raven knocking or entering. He was in his own world, still trying to put his emotions back in check.

Raven took a cautious step in. He couldn't see Atherin all that well, but he knew he was inside. "Atherin?" he repeated. Atherin faintly heard Raven this time, but still didn't answer him. He was...hurting a little due to not knowing what Raven was thinking about...

Raven took another step in. "Atherin? You okay?" he repeated. Atherin finally responded to Raven. He shook his head 'no'. He wasn't 'okay'... He was about as far from it as he could get.

Raven could see Atherin shake his head a little. He was a little concerned. He took a few steps closer. "Atherin? Will you say something?" he asked. Atherin didn't know what to say exactly. He wasn't exactly...in a right state to talk at the moment...

Raven sighed. He worked up the nerve and walked over beside where Atherin was sitting. He didn't talk, unsure of what to say at the moment. Atherin barely noticed when Raven walked over to him. He didn't want Raven to see how fragile he really was. Raven leaned against one of the other chairs, unsure of what to do. Atherin wasn't about to start the conversation. He didn't think he could find his voice at the moment to say anything. He was waiting to see what Raven would do or say to him. Raven didn't say anything, unsure of Atherin's standing at the moment. He didn't want to upset him. Atherin grew even more down hearted when Raven still didn't say anything. He just wanted him to say something about earlier.

Raven sighed. "Atherin? Tell me what's wrong..."

"...I feel...awful... Wh-When you get...all quiet...when I...tell you s-something important about...me... I feel...so...isolated..." Atherin answered quietly, almost too quietly for Raven to hear him.

Raven blinked. "I'm sorry Atherin; I didn't mean to make you feel like that. I... just got lost in thought is all..." Atherin only nodded ever so slightly. He was still feeling off, not his normal self. Raven leaned back against the chair. He wasn't sure what he should do at this point, with Atherin like this. Atherin closed his eyes, trying to pull himself back together. Again, he didn't want Raven to see him like this.

Raven saw this. "Atherin? You alright?" he asked. Atherin shook his head 'no' again. He still wasn't alright and it would take some time for him to return to normal. Raven sighed. This was going to take awhile...

Atherin opened his eyes again. They were half open and from where Raven was standing they looked a little dull. He'd need to cheer the vampire up somehow. Raven decided to try and talk to Atherin. "What all were you able to find out about the venom, Atherin?"

"...That...it can be...either harmless or...harmful depending...on my mood... It's...also a rare strand...in the genes... There's an...anti venom...that can be made..." Atherin answered quietly.

"That's good..." Raven said, "I'm sure Ibeyla and Ryoko can make some, just in case..." Atherin nodded. He had already talked with Ibeyla about it while Raven was sleeping.

"Find anything else out?" Raven asked. Atherin shook his head 'no'. He had been reading the diagram about it before things...turned sour...

"Nothing?" Raven asked, "I thought there would have been a bit more on it..."

"...I wasn't...done reading it... I was talking with Ibeyla..."

Raven sighed. "Did you find anything else?"

"...Just some...other...abilities..."

"Like what?" Raven asked.

"...Some different fire abilities like fire breathing and a flame serpent... And a really painful looking diagram of morphing..."

"Just don't burn something important..." Raven said, "And as for morphing... I better not find you turning into a snake and scaring me half to death..."

"...I won't burn anything... And for some reason...I don't see myself morphing into a snake..."

"Good... that would scare me to death..."

"...It's not like I mean to scare you...most of the time at least..."

Raven rolled his eyes. "Sure..."

"...I really don't mean too..."

Raven sighed. "Is there anything that would make you feel better?" he asked.

"...Some...food might make...me feel better..." Atherin replied quietly. He was in no way shape or form implying anything.

Raven blinked. "What _kind_ of food?" he asked.

"...Just food...anything really..." Atherin answered, not noticing Raven's expression. Raven sighed and sat down beside Atherin. He took off his left glove and offered Atherin was wrist. Atherin blinked when he saw Raven's wrist in front of him. It took him a moment to actually do something. He pushed Raven's wrist away from him and turned his head away, not wanting _that_ kind of 'food'.

Raven blinked in surprise. Atherin rarely refused blood. "Atherin?" Raven asked, "Is something wrong?"

"...I'm not...gonna take from you...'til I can...g-get my venom...under control..." Atherin answered quietly.

"It's alright Atherin..." Raven reassured him, "You won't hurt me..."

"...I still don't...want it..."

"Well, you need to practice anyway..."

"...But...not on you..."

"I don't care..."

"But I do... I don't like...injecting it into you on accident..."

"It's okay, it won't hurt me, and the sooner you practice, the sooner you'll get it under control..."

"...I know...but I'd rather practice on something that I won't...hurt..."

"Again, you won't hurt me, Atherin..."

"...But...what if I do...? We don't even have the antivenom made..."

"You won't Atherin..." Raven reassured him. Atherin still wasn't convinced on it. He didn't want to bite into Raven and hurt him. Even if it was just practice he'd rather bite something else.

Raven sighed. "Don't worry Atherin, you won't hurt me..."

"I'd...rather not bite into you though... Even if I do need practice...I'd rather practice on an animal or something..."

"I don't mind Atherin..." Raven said, "I don't mind..." Atherin remained silent. He was too nervous to actually bite and he knew that in this state there was a good chance that he would inject his venom.

Raven sighed. Atherin wasn't making this easy. "Atherin, it's alright... you won't hurt me..."

Atherin nodded slightly. Raven seemed to have a lot of faith in him, even if he, himself, didn't. He'd try, but at the first sign that something was wrong he'd stop. Raven turned away, waiting for Atherin to bite. He trusted that Atherin would be able to control himself. Atherin hesitated for a few minutes more before he pulled Raven's wrist back to him and bit down. He had read enough to know that if he didn't want to inject venom it wouldn't happen. Raven relaxed when he was sure Atherin hadn't injected any venom. It seemed Atherin had more control than he knew.

Atherin kept himself in check as he 'fed' off of Raven. He felt better now that he knew that he could control it some what. He knew that at some point and time he'd slip, but he hoped that the slip would just be the numbing venom. Raven let Atherin 'feed', not at all bothered by it. He was glad Atherin had some control over his venom. Atherin stopped after a minute or two. He didn't drink as long as he usually did, still a little scared that he'd accidently inject his venom. He sealed the wounds before letting go of Raven's wrist.

Raven put his glove back on. "Feel better?" he asked, looking over at him.

Atherin nodded slightly. "A little... I'm still...nervous about it..."

Raven sighed. "Well, you didn't hurt me, so you should feel good..."

"...It doesn't mean that I've gotten it down pact... My venom just developed suddenly and I used it when I didn't even want too..."

"Don't worry, you'll get control of it soon..." Atherin nodded again. He knew he'd get the hang of it in time. He wanted to go back to the library to get some of his notes so then he could start working on some new fire techniques.

"So, is there anything you want to do, Atherin?" Raven asked.

"...I wanna...start teaching myself some of the fire techniques that I've found... But I don't know where I could do so with out...catching something on fire..."

"There's an open area outside the hanger for Zoids. There's nothing that would burn there..."

"Could you show me where it is? And then I can go get my notes..."

Raven nodded. "Just follow me; I know where it is..."

Atherin got up from where he was sitting. He followed Raven to the space that he talked about. It was big enough for him to practice in and Raven was right. There wasn't anything there for him to catch on fire. "I'll be right back. I'm just gonna go grab my notes." Atherin said as he disappeared again. Raven sat down against the closed hanger doors, waiting for Atherin to return. Atherin returned a few minutes later and sat down next to Raven. He wanted to start out slow and so thought a refresher would do him some good.

Raven looked over at Atherin. "What all are you going to try?"

"Well...I'm gonna just do a refresher first, but after a warm up I'll try this." Atherin said showing Raven a diagram of a flaming serpent.

Raven blinked. "Why does it have to be a snake..." he groaned to himself.

"...It starts out as a serpent but the stronger it or me gets it changes into a dragon..." Atherin replied, turning the page and showing him the different stages.

"Great..." Raven said, "... but still, why a snake?"

"I don't know... Perhaps it's just a young dragon but they just labeled it as a serpent?"

Raven stared at him. "You're not doing a good job of making me feel better..."

"Sorry... I didn't name it and I'm only telling you my thoughts about it." Atherin said as he stood up. Raven rolled his eyes and leaned back against the wall. He crossed his arms, waiting to see what Atherin was going to do.

Atherin warmed up by forming what he normally used. The fire balls and the flame beam. Those were the basics for the flame serpent. He first made the flame beam held it for as long as he could. He held the beam steady for about fifteen minutes before stopping. He could probably hold it all day but he just wanted to make sure. After taking a moments rest did he start the beam again, trying to focus it into the shape of a serpent. Raven watched Atherin try to make the flame serpent. He kept quiet, so Atherin could focus.

After trying to focus the beam into a serpent form for twenty minutes did Atherin finally make a break through. He managed to form the serpent's head and part of the upper body. Raven watched the serpent take shape. As long as it stayed over there, he'd be fine. After another twenty minutes did he actually form the full serpent. Now that he could kind of make it, he needed to make it instantly. After that, he'd work on getting it to move. Raven continued to watch, surprised Atherin was catching on so quickly. After getting the feeling of what the serpent felt like did Atherin make it disappear. He took a short break to regain his breath.

"Good job Dracula..." Raven said, looking over at him.

"Thanks...but it's still not...complete... I need to make it instantly...not make it in forty minutes."

"So? You still managed to form it..."

"I know... But the hard part is now coming up. I know I won't get it in the first few tries... It could even take hours to get right...which I hope doesn't happen..."

"Me too... you know I hate snakes... even if they aren't really real..."

"I know. I'll try not to make you suffer too much." Atherin said as he got ready to start up again.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Yeah, thanks Dracula..."

Atherin chuckled at him before he went back to training. As he suspected the first few times were awful and he did nothing more than the flame beams. He didn't get distraught though and tried again and again and again. After the thirtieth time did he actually form anything remotely close to a serpent. He knew that it'd take time and practice, but he'd get it. Raven watched Atherin for the first few times. But he quickly grew bored, and turned his attention to Noah's claw to keep himself occupied.

Atherin continued to practice and now that he kinda had a better feeling for it he was getting better forming it. He was now forming it constantly...even if it was a little shaky and rough. Raven had grown mostly uninterested in Atherin's attempts to create the serpent. He had leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes, trying to take another quick nap.

After Atherin was confident enough, he tried to make the serpent that he had worked on move. It was harder than he thought it would be. Raven had fallen into a light sleep, still trying to catch up on his lost sleep.

Atherin trained for an hour and a half trying to get the flame serpent to move did he take a break. He sat down near Raven and pulled his notes to him to re-read. He was breathing a little heavily and was sweating but he was making progress. Atherin left him alone, just reading over his notes. He took a little longer of a break before he got started again. He was now able to form the serpent instantly, but still couldn't get it to move. He would though. It was just a matter of time... After a few more minutes of practice did Atherin make some more progress in making the serpent move. He could now make it move its head as if it was looking around. It was a big break through as just getting this far was supposed to take about a year. A few minutes later Raven woke up. Sleeping on the hard ground wasn't very comfortable.

Atherin didn't notice that Raven had woken up. He was starting to get the hang of moving the serpent around. He was still practicing moving its head and was now trying to make it rise up...thought that wasn't what happened... It whipped around like an aggressive snake as if he had agitated it before he stilled it again. Okaaaay...that was obviously a wrong signal on his part...

Raven couldn't help but snicker. "Way to go Dracula!" he shouted to him.

"At least I can get it to move now!" Atherin shouted back. It didn't dissuade him from trying again; he now knew not to give that signal again...at least not at himself. This was also a good way to start practicing making it actually slithering around. Raven sighed and watched. He didn't like watching the snake, but it was better than doing nothing.

Atherin ignored Raven again, too interesting in what he was doing. He tried again, giving it a gentler signal than before and the snake actually started to slither forward. He tried making it move to the left and it turned. He was picking this up a lot quicker than he thought it would. Raven continued watching. As long as Atherin kept that thing on a tight leash, he'd be okay.

After practicing moving it around for a little while more did it suddenly disperse, Atherin wavered for a moment before collapsing to the ground. He may have been getting the hang of it, but it drained his energy quickly.

Raven got up and ran over to him. "Atherin? Are you alright?" he asked, kneeling down beside him.

Atherin nodded slightly. He was alright, just really tired. He was breathing a little heavier than before and was sweating more than before...probably from a combination of the heat from the fire and how hard he had been working. "...J-Just give me...a m-moment to r-rest...and I'll be...f-fine..." Raven nodded and sat down beside him, letting him catch his breath. Atherin just laid on the ground for a couple of minutes regaining his breath and some stamina. When he had regained enough he sat up, but he was still breathing a little hard. It looked like he was done training for now...

"You sure you're alright Atherin?" Raven asked again.

"I'm sure... It just...took more energy than I thought...it would... After all...getting it to move...was something...I wasn't to learn... until a year after forming it..."

"Well, you should take it slow from now on..."

"Yeah, yeah..." Atherin said a little breathlessly.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Just do me a favor and stop getting sick and exhausting yourself all the time..."

"You're one to...talk..."

Raven rolled his eyes again. "Shut it Dracula..." Atherin just ignored Raven as he did his best to regain his breath and enough stamina to stand, let alone walk. Raven didn't say anything else, letting Atherin regain his strength.

After about fifteen minutes did Atherin have enough energy to stand and walk. His breathing was nearly back to normal but he wasn't going to train again until the day after tomorrow. Raven got to his feet, ready to go back inside. Atherin stood up as well but not as fast as Raven had, just in case he lost his balance and fell. He went to where Raven had been earlier and gathered his notes before following Raven back inside.

Raven walked inside the hanger, glad to be out of the heat. Atherin was glad to be out of the heat as well. "I think I'm gonna part ways with you here. I'm gonna go put these in my room and then go take a shower. I'll see ya around!" Atherin said as he started toward his room.

Raven nodded and headed back towards the main living area. That room was always quiet and cool, and he 'hoped' he could take a nap. Unfortunately for Raven there was someone already occupying the main living area. Ryoko was there, reading something. She noticed Raven walk in and waved him over to where she was.

Raven walked over to where she was and sat down on the couch across from her. "Hey Ryoko..."

"Afternoon Raven, I haven't seen you or Atherin at all today. Something happen?"

"We were just in the library and practicing is all..."

"Practicing what exactly?"

"...some new things with his fire ability..." Raven told her. He wasn't completely lying...

"Oh? What's he trying to learn?"

"To make a serpent out of fire..."

"Serpent Flame?" She asked knowing instantly what Raven was talking about. "I've only seen it once when mom used it at a festival. Atherin was too young to remember it... Usually one needs a mentor to be able to learn the more advanced things..."

"Well, he got it to form and move..."

"He really is something else... Learning how to make it by just reading a few notes about it... Not even myself nor Tyme can do that..."

Raven nodded. "He did a good job... he managed to get it moving in only a few hours..."

"I remember mom complaining about how long it took her to learn some of her techniques after the festival... She said that it took her six months to make the serpent and then another year and a half to make it even move...let alone be combat ready... Whether he knows it or not he's a genius in some aspects..."

"Well, Atherin got it to nearly bite him on accident..."

"Well...it couldn't be flawless." Ryoko joked.

"No, it wasn't..." Raven said.

"Anything else he's working on?"

"Nothing really..." Raven said, "What about you? Have you gotten into anything interesting?"

Ryoko smirked a little but didn't tell him anything. And... That worried him somewhat.

Raven blinked. "Something... wrong?"

"Nope. Everything's just fine." She said in a sweet voice that told Raven that she knew something that she wasn't telling him. Raven narrowed his eyes slightly. He knew she was up to something. She giggled at him when she saw his eyes narrow. She knew that he was suspicious of her, but she wasn't telling...yet... Raven didn't like that look on her face. He knew she was hiding something...

Ryoko just smiled at him, not saying a word. He noticed that her fangs were smaller and a little narrower than Atherin's but it was just a fleeting thought as he went back to trying to figure out what she was hiding. Raven crossed his arms and leaned back against the couch. He _knew_ she was hiding something important... Ryoko could see the wheels working in Raven's head as he tried to figure out what she was hiding. She wasn't going to say anything out loud, he'd either have to guess or figure it out for himself.

Raven tried to think about what Ryoko was hiding. The only thing that he could think of was that Ryoko had somehow learned of her party. To Ryoko it looked like Raven thought she knew of something that she wasn't supposed to. That intrigued her, but knew better than to pry into his mind to find out what. But from what she could tell, he didn't know about Shadow... Raven still wasn't sure what Ryoko was hiding, but he was starting to get a little worried.

Ryoko saw his worried look. She giggled again, knowing that when he found out he'd be in a full blown panic. THAT worried Raven a LOT. He was getting extremely concerned with what she was hiding. Ryoko giggled harder upon seeing his expression. She knew that it wasn't funny but she was enjoying herself. Raven was getting really worried. But he didn't say anything, knowing he wouldn't get her to talk.

Ryoko thought she'd relieve some of his worries. "Don't worry Raven. It's nothing bad or harmful." She said with a smile. Raven still didn't relax. He was still really nervous about what she was hiding. She giggled at him again seeing his still slightly horrified expression. She wasn't going to tell Atherin either. She had promised Shadow that she wouldn't. Raven sighed. He knew he wouldn't get anything out of her.

Ryoko didn't even need to read his mind to tell what he was thinking. "I don't think you'll be getting anything outta me either Raven."

Raven sighed. "I know..."

Ryoko laughed this time and before he knew what had happened she was sitting next to him and before he could stop her, she was hugging him. Raven was more than a little surprised by this. He had to stop himself from jumping in surprise. Ryoko let go of him after a few more seconds. "You just looked like you needed a hug Raven. That and, don't worry, you're not the only one that can't get into my head."

Raven blinked. "Uhh... thanks?"

"You'll get use to it Raven." She said as she picked up her book and flipped to her book mark. A few minutes later, Karl walked through the living area. He was holding a small wash cloth; he was going to shine his Zaber Fang's eyes and claws.

"Again with your Zoid Major?" Ryoko asked when she saw Karl walk into the living area with the wash cloth.

Karl turned to her. "Yeah, well, he complains if he can't see..."

"That doesn't mean that you have to do it right this second. I know Atherin tends to ignore Eiji a lot...other wise he'd never leave that Zoid's side."

"Well, actually he's been waiting for awhile..." Karl said, "I'm just now getting around to doing it..."

"You and your Zoid... I know that you have to take good care of them to keep them combat ready, but really? You spend so much time with him already! We hardly ever see you outta the hanger!"

"Sorry about that. But Krieger's an old veteran. He's always got an old battle wound acting up that needs tending too..."

"Oh... Well I didn't know that."

"It's alright. He's good at hiding his wounds, which is why he's so hard to repair."

"I bet." Ryoko said as she put her book back down. "Well...if he'd been waiting for a while now, then you should get back to him."

Karl nodded. "Yeah... he's usually patient, but he does have his limit..." he said, "I'll see you around..."

"Bye Major!' Ryoko called after him. "So Raven...where _is_ Atherin exactly?"

"He said he was going to take a shower..." Raven said.

"So that's why he won't answer me..." She mumbled to herself. She didn't pry when she knew that he didn't want her too. Raven sighed and leaned back further into the couch. He was still tired and wanted another nap.

Ryoko saw this. "Would you rather I leave? I can go else where if you're tired."

"It's alright..." Raven said, "I'm just a little tired..."

Ryoko nodded but picked up her book, knowing that Raven wanted to sleep. She was quiet, just letting Raven drift off to sleep. She'd make sure to tell Atherin to let him sleep as well. However, she got the feeling that her brother would be napping after his shower. A few minutes after Raven had dozed off, Donnie wandered into the room. He was reading a book, so he wasn't paying much attention.

Ryoko looked up when she sensed someone else enter the room. She looked up from her book and saw Donnie. "Hey Donnie," she said, trying to not wake Raven up.

Donnie looked up from his book. "Oh, hello Ryoko..." he greeted her, sitting down beside Raven.

"What's that you're reading?" She asked since she couldn't read human texts either.

"Oh, it's just a book the blue planet, Earth..."

"...The blue planet...'Earth'?" She had never heard of it before. She knew that there were other planets; she just didn't know their names.

"Earth, it's the planet that my ancestors came from originally..."

Ryoko nodded. She kind of understood what he was talking about. "Anything interesting about it?"

"Well, there were no Zoids there... and only humans..."

Ryoko could see that. After all, she had lived not knowing about Zoids until five years ago. "I could imagine it without Zoids...but not having other races like vampires or Zoidians..."

"I know... I couldn't either..." Donnie agreed with her.

Ryoko nodded. "But we don't live there, we live here."

"Yeah... and I'm glad that we do... Earth sounds boring..."

"It sure does. It may be plentiful with humans, but I don't see me living else where."

"Me either... I like it here in Horai..."

"It is nice here, much better than where I was living before I ran into Raven."

Donnie nodded. "I've lived here since I was only a year old, when I was adopted by my uncle Daniel..."

Ryoko nodded. "I don't quite understand why you and Raven grew up apart, but I'm not one to pry...too much that is."

"Well, my uncle and aunt didn't have children, so they adopted me..."

"I can understand that a little... Though...it's not common for vampires to adopt children... Call it...some sort of instinct..."

"Humans adopt children all the time... it's normal for us..."

"The only time that we adopt another's child is when they are family, but I think myself and Atherin are exceptions."

Donnie nodded. "It's really normal for humans. Prozen adopted Raven, and Karl semi-adopted Ibeyla."

Ryoko nodded in understanding. She knew that humans had an...odd...social structure, especially with all their Emperors and Presidents and all their social classes... Donnie opened his book back up. He turned to where he had stopped, and started reading again. Ryoko picked up her book as well and also began to read. Like she had suspected Atherin had fallen asleep as well and probably wouldn't wake up until tomorrow. Donnie was completely absorbed into his book, leaning back into the couch. Raven was deeply asleep, tired still from having to care for Atherin when he had fallen ill from the fight with Rabe. After a while both Donnie and Ryoko headed toward their respective rooms to turn in for the night. Morning soon came, as well as a hectic day.

* * *

_**Author's Note:**_ I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Not too much happened, but Atherin found something out about his new venom. He also had a nice one-on-one with Ibeyla too and we see that he's planning some sort of surprise party for Ryoko! The birthday party's up next and just what kind of trouble can they get into with that? You'll just have to wait and find out! Please Review! They make my day! :)


	46. Ryoko's Birthday

_**Disclaimer 1:**__ I do NOT own Zoids._

_**Disclaimer 2:**__ The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe__, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul, Rika, Avea, Serrer and Libelle do __**NOT**__ belong to me. They belong to __**ShadowRebirth37.**_

_**Disclaimer 3:**__ The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to __**ME**__ as do the towns Redai and Jurei._

_**Author's Note:**_ Hey everyone! I'm so sorry for the VERY late update! D: This chapter I meant to do at the end of August, but work just about killed me ~_~; However, I decided to get my thoughts in order and get this chapter up. I also wanted to get another CR chapter up to celebrate Atherin's birthday, which is today ^^ I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Thanks to Those of You That Reviewed!

* * *

Raven woke up relatively early in the morning and got up. He walked to Atherin's room and knocked on the door. "Hey Dracula, you up?"

"...No..." Atherin mumbled sleepily.

"Yes you are..." Raven said, "Now get up..."

Atherin grumbled something in the vampiric language before unlocking the door. Raven opened the door and walked in. As expected it was pitch black. Atherin looked over to Raven when he entered, his glowing lavender eyes glazed over from waking up. From what Raven could tell he wasn't on the bed, which was a first whenever he had come to wake him before. Raven leaned back against the wall, waiting for Atherin. He was hungry, having not eaten, and wanted to get breakfast.

Atherin finished dressing a few minutes later. "...Alright...I'm ready to go..." he said tiredly as he walked over to the door and opened it.

Raven followed him. "Can we get something to eat? I'm starving..."

"Sure. What'd you want for breakfast?"

Raven shrugged. "Whatever I can find in the kitchen..."

"...I _can_ make you something if you want me too," Atherin said as they reached the kitchen.

"I'll be fine..." Raven said, looking around for something to eat.

Atherin sighed as he went to the pantry to start pulling ingredients to make himself breakfast. "Well...you'll be eating whatever I decide to make."

Raven shrugged. "Fine I guess..." he said, before he found an apple and started eating it.

Atherin ignored him as he went about making breakfast. After about twenty minutes he had finished making sweet and savory crepes. Raven was leaning back in his chair, his arms crossed and eyes closed. He had finished with his apple, and was just relaxing.

Atherin set two crepes in front of Raven, one sweet and one savory. "Eat Raven. You'll need it for today." Raven did as Atherin said and ate the crepes. They were good, so he didn't talk. Atherin finished his breakfast and cleared away their plates. He didn't want to start making Ryoko's cake until he was sure Ibeyla had her busy.

A few minutes later, Ibeyla walked in. "I'm going to go get Ryoko. I'm going to teach her a few Zoidian medicinal medicines and recipes, so you two can get things ready," she said.

"Thanks Ibeyla. I should be done within four or so hours," Atherin said.

Ibeyla nodded. "I'll keep her occupied for that long... no problem..."

Atherin nodded before he started raiding the pantry again. He also gathered bowls and cake pans. "Care to help Raven?"

Raven blinked and looked at him. "Do I have to?"

"Not right at the moment," Atherin said as he started measuring stuff for making the cake.

"Good..." Raven said, leaning back further in his chair.

Atherin just shook his head at him as he continued what he was doing. After making the cake batter and pouring it he began making the icing. Raven could only imagine how sweet that cake was going to be. Raven watched him, not making any moves to help. He wasn't really a cooking person. Atherin placed the one of the cake pans into the oven and brought the icing he was making over to the table. He already had one batch made and he knew that he'd need a lot more.

Raven looked over and watched him. "What're you doing now?"

"Making icing, wanna taste?"

"I know better than to take anything with sugar in it from you..."

"Ha-ha," Atherin joked dryly as he continued to make icing. He was waiting for the cakes to be done before he could ice them, with Raven's forced help of course. Raven rolled his eyes, leaning back in his chair again.

Atherin chuckled before putting his newly made icing in the fridge. While he was waiting for the cakes to get done he took out the present that he and Raven had found. He was debating on whether or not if he should wrap it... Raven had closed his eyes and was relaxing. He hadn't slept well last night due to dozing off on the couch, and was still a little tired. Atherin just decided that he'd present the bracelet as is. He let Raven relax, just until he needed help frosting the cake. Raven yawned, crossing his arms behind his head. He was really tired and on the verge of falling asleep. The oven went off and Atherin got up to check to make sure that it was ready. It was, so he took it out and put the next one in and set the one that was done out to cool.

A few minutes later, Donnie entered the kitchen. "Hello Joyce, Atherin..." he greeted them.

"Hello Donnie," Atherin greeted as he tended to his one cake and new batch of icing.

"Do you need some help?" Donnie asked.

"I'll need some help frosting when the cake cools," Atherin replied as he finished the icing and placed it in the fridge.

"Okay..." Donnie said, sitting down at the table beside Raven.

After a few minutes the one cake was cool and Atherin placed it on the table after taking it out of the pan and onto a platter. "Here Donnie," Atherin said handing him a knife while he went and got one batch of frosting to the table. Donnie started to ice the cake, being much more helpful than Raven, who was now taking a nap.

Atherin was icing the cake as well. He glanced over to Raven who was _supposed _to be helping him as well. He glanced at Donnie, not knowing if he would think it alright...

"It's alright if we make a mess..." Donnie said, "We'll just clean it up when we're done..."

Atherin nodded, knowing that it was just about to get _very_ messy. He moved the cake so then it wouldn't get squished before returning to the table and took aim. Donnie looked over at Raven and had to stop himself from chuckling and alerting Raven to Atherin's 'plans'. Atherin smirked, letting the icing in the spoon that he had fly. It hit Raven smack in the face. Raven yelped and fell back, not expecting that. Donnie couldn't help but burst out in laughter. Atherin started laughing as well. Raven should have known better than to fall asleep in the kitchen...with a vampire armed with cake icing.

Raven wiped as much of the icing off of his face as he could. "That wasn't funny, Dracula!" he snapped, throwing the icing back at Atherin. Atherin shielded himself with his arm, keeping the icing from hitting him in the face. He was still laughing at Raven and before he started again, but this time he included Donnie in their fun. Donnie wiped off the icing and threw it back at Atherin. He was still laughing; he hadn't had this much fun in a long time. Atherin was still laughing as well before he started to pick on Raven again, throwing more icing at him. Raven threw the icing back at Atherin. Donnie grabbed a handful of icing from the bowl and threw it at Atherin, laughing.

"Hey! You're double teaming me!" Atherin laughed as hit both twins, in an attempt to defend himself in their frosting war. Donnie and Raven threw more icing at him, trying to 'defend' them selves from Atherin. Atherin just returned fire, hitting the both of them on their faces, which gave him a little time to ready himself as they wiped the icing away. Donnie and Raven quickly wiped away the icing, and immediately threw it back at Atherin.

They were quickly running out of icing, and Atherin wasn't going to use the other two for their frosting fight. He was super sticky and waiting for the oven to go off. He threw some more icing at the twins before he had to get up to get the cake out of the oven to keep it from burning. Donnie gathered up a handful of icing and threw it at his brother. Raven quickly threw some back, occupying themselves as they waited for Atherin to come back.

After putting the last cake in the oven did Atherin return to the table. He managed to sneak back while the twins were too busy throwing icing at the other. He took one of the remaining handfuls splitting it into two separate halves before throwing them at the twins. Donnie and Raven quickly returned fire, pelting him with icing. Atherin shielded himself as best as he could before returning the favor. They were almost out of icing, probably two more handfuls before they'd be done.

Again, Atherin shielded himself as best as he could when the twins threw what remaining icing they had at him. There wasn't any icing left and he was really sticky now. He was sure that Raven and Donnie were just as sticky as he was. He could feel his hair starting to stiffen with the drying icing. He'd need to take another shower after the cakes where done.

Raven shook his head. "Damnit Atherin. Why'd you have to start this?"

"'Cause you just made it too easy," Atherin laughed.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but you and Donnie should have behaved yourselves..."

"He said it was alright! I even asked before I started this whole thing. And you didn't _have_ to take part in it."

Raven looked at Donnie in shock for a minute before turning back to Atherin. "What do you mean by that? I was minding my own damn business when you started it!"

Atherin laughed before answering him. "I asked him and he said that we'd just clean up afterwards. And again, you just made it too of a target. You should have known better than to fall asleep in the kitchen with a vampire with a bowlful of frosting."

Raven rolled his eyes. "Shut it Dracula..."

Atherin just laughed at him again. He stood up again to get a wash cloth to clean up the table to start frosting the cakes again. After cleaning up the table he brought the unfinished frosted cake back to the table and got a new batch of icing out of the fridge. He handed both Raven and Donnie a knife to start helping him frost the cake. "If you want a different excuse Raven, then it was to wake you up to help us frost the cakes," Atherin joked.

Raven rolled his eyes. "You shouldn't be aggravating me while I have a knife in my hand, Dracula, I might be tempted..."

"It's a butter knife... Do you really think you can hurt me with that?" Atherin teased as he started to frost the cake again.

"I'd find a way..." Raven shot back.

"Uh huh..." Atherin smirked as he continued frosting his sister's cake. Raven rolled his eyes. He looked at the butter knife more closely, as if considering something.

Atherin noticed this, "Something wrong?"

"I was just making sure this wasn't silver... because I was going to stab you with it until I remembered it was 'silverware'..." Raven said, smirking.

"...It's fake... Do you really think I'd be handling real silver? And you wouldn't stab me," Atherin just about deadpanned as he finished frosting the one cake.

Raven sighed. "You're right. I know better... you'd end up stabbing me back..."

"I'm not _that_ mean... I wouldn't stab you...in front of Donnie at least," Atherin smirked.

Donnie chuckled a little. "I know you wouldn't. But as soon as Donnie left for whatever reason, I'd be fair game..."

"You know it. I'm being on my 'best' behavior...for the moment at least," Atherin chuckled as he went to get the other cake to frost.

Raven rolled his eyes. "For the moment is right..."

Atherin chuckled again before setting the next cake in front of them. "Just one more to go before we can get this cleaned up as well as ourselves," Atherin said lightly, getting a groan from Raven as he knew that Atherin wouldn't let him out of cleaning.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Good... I don't know how long I can stand being covered in this stuff..."

Atherin laughed. He was probably the stickiest of the three as both Donnie and Raven teamed up on him. "Yeah, yeah... It just makes you 'sweeter' than you already are," Atherin joked, referring to Raven's blood.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Just thank Eve you aren't 'hungry'..."

"It's Ryoko's birthday, not mine. She might be 'hungry'. ...Not that I'm implying anything Donnie," Atherin said, just to make sure that he knew that he was only kidding.

Raven rolled his eyes. "Great... now I'm gonna have two vampires biting me..."

"May be just for today," Atherin smirked.

Raven sighed. "Great..." he muttered sarcastically.

"Oh lighten up Raven. I 'ate' yesterday...I think you only have to worry about Ryoko."

Raven rolled his eyes. "That doesn't mean you won't end up joining in..."

"Maybe later... But I do have to wonder..." Atherin trailed off.

"Joy..." Raven said sarcastically.

Atherin chuckled again as he finished frosting the second cake. All he was waiting for now was the third one, after that they could start cleaning up. Raven set down his knife and tried to rub off some of the now-dry icing. He was covered in it, and he hated it.

"It won't come off like that Raven. You're better off waiting for a shower," Atherin said as he came back to the table.

"I know... but it's really irritating..." Raven groaned.

"Well...I don't know what to tell ya," Atherin said as he sat back down. His hair was stiff and he could just feel how sticky he was. Raven and Donnie sat down as well. Raven was still trying to get the icing off of him. Atherin just chuckled at him. He was half tempted to start eating some of the icing that was on his fingers, but he didn't. Even though it basically _was_ pure sugar... Raven continued trying to get some of the icing off of him, not liking the feeling of it. Atherin only had so much self control when it came to sugar. He soon found himself losing and to his will power and starting to eat some of the icing that was on his fingers. Donnie was trying to get some of the icing off as well. He was covered in it, more so than Raven.

The oven went off and Atherin got up to go get it. It needed to cool before they could frost it though, so until then, Atherin continued eating the icing that was on him. He wasn't wasting it and it was much more effective than how Raven and Donnie were trying to get it off. Raven looked at Atherin for a moment. "Don't eat too much of that icing, you'll spoil your appetite..."

"What appetite? I'm a black hole remember?"

Raven rolled his eyes. "Should have seen that one coming..." Atherin chuckled at him before he continued eating the icing. It wasn't denting his hunger in the slightest. He doubted he'd ever know what it felt like to be 'full'.

"I still don't understand how you can eat all that sugar and not get sick..." Raven said.

"Well...my body basically absorbs it as soon as it gets into my system... It keeps my 'hunger' sated and sometimes, if I eat enough of it, my body will produce some of its own blood." Atherin explained.

"But still..." Raven muttered.

"If we ate anywhere near that amount of sugar, we'd get really sick..." Donnie said.

"I know you guys would... But...I need it...in some way, shape or form...otherwise I'd be biting you every day..."

Raven rolled his eyes. "That would be just great..." he said sarcastically.

"I'm just saying... I don't wanna bite you every day either..."

"Good..." Raven said, trying to get more of the icing off of him. Atherin sighed and threw the wash cloth at him. It was a better way of getting the icing off then trying to peel or rub it off.

"Thanks..." Raven said, trying to get at least some of the icing off with it.

"It's better than what you were trying before," Atherin said as he got the last cake to be iced. He set it on the table before getting the last batch of icing out of the fridge. When he got back to the table he started to frost the last cake. Raven set the washcloth aside, he and Donnie helping him ice the cake.

The cake was iced quickly and there was half a bowl of frosting left. Atherin wasn't going to waste it. He made room in the fridge, somehow, and placed all three cakes in it. "All that's left is cleaning up the mess that we made... Then we can go clean our selves up," Atherin said as he got a spoonful of icing and ate it.

Raven and Donnie helped him clean up the mess. There was icing everywhere from the 'fight'. They soon got the kitchen cleaned up and icing free. Atherin was content to just sit there and finish off the icing while Raven and Donnie got cleaned up. He didn't mind getting cleaned up last. Raven and Donnie left to take showers and get new clothes. After about an hour they came back, all cleaned up. By the time that they came back Atherin had finished off the icing and had piped _**'Happy Birthday'**_ on the cakes. He left to get cleaned up and returned about half an hour later, in his night clothes, but at least he was clean.

Raven leaned back in his chair. "It took me forever to get all that icing out of my hair... it was like trying to get out glue..." he complained.

"Icing? Icing for what?" came a voice from the door way.

Raven blinked and looked at Atherin and Donnie. "Oh Helkat..."

Ryoko entered the kitchen and looked between the boys. She was quick to put things together and pulled Atherin into a bear hug that would surely have crushed Raven and Donnie. "You didn't have to bake me a cake for my birthday! You guys are so sweet!" she said letting go of her brother before going to hug the twins.

Raven blinked. "Umm... you're welcome?" he said. Ryoko let go of him before hugging Donnie. She knew that they all helped to some degree.

Donnie hugged her back lightly. "Happy birthday, Ryoko." he said.

"Thanks Donnie. Though you guys didn't have to do this," She said letting go of him.

"Sis...you know as well as I do that you like parties..."

"It wasn't a problem, Ryoko..." Donnie said as he sat back down.

Ryoko sat down in the remaining chair, in between Atherin and Donnie. Before a conversation could be started up, Atherin took out the bracelet that he and Raven had found a few days earlier. "Happy Birthday Sis," he said handing it to her. She took it from him and examined it speechlessly.

"Atherin this is... How'd you get a hold of it?"

"Atherin and I found it when we went into town a few days ago..." Raven explained.

"Really? This must have cost a fortune though..."

"It wasn't too bad. The store owner thought it was cinnabar, which although it's a bit expensive wasn't near that of Red Magnite..." Raven said.

Ryoko nodded. "You two still didn't need to get me anything," she said as she examined the Red Magnite set in the bracelet.

"It's your birthday; it's only natural to get you a gift..."

"Thanks. I'll be sure to put it to good use," she said as she slipped it onto her right wrist. "...Well? Aren't you gonna go get my cake Atherin?" she teased.

"Just hold your DiBisons... I'll get it," he said as he got up and got one of the cakes.

Ibeyla walked in a few minutes later. "I take it she found out?" she said, even though she already knew the answer.

"Yeah, Raven said the wrong thing at the wrong time," Atherin replied as he placed the cake in front of Ryoko handing her a knife and setting plates on the table.

"Hey! I didn't know she was there!" Raven defended, "And you shouldn't have started that icing fight, Dracula!"

"It was worth it though," Atherin chuckled. "And besides...she'd have pried it outta my mind any ways..."

Raven rolled his eyes. "Worth it? Yeah..."

Ryoko chuckled at them before cutting into her cake. "You remembered my favorite flavor too!" She exclaimed when she saw that it was a strawberry cake. She placed the first piece on one of the plates before handing it to Donnie. She did the same until every one had a piece.

"Thank you Ryoko..." Donnie said, taking a bite of the cake.

"Yeah, thanks Ryoko..." Ibeyla and Raven said, starting to eat as well.

Ryoko nodded as she and Atherin also started to eat. Atherin had remembered that other people would like to eat it as well and so made it normal. Raven and Ibeyla finished their pieces of cake quickly. Donnie ate a little more slowly. Atherin and Ryoko actually ate slowly as well. Though...it was probably due to the fact that they were mentally talking with each other and just automatically eating what was in front of them.

Raven looked over at Atherin. "Wow Dracula, I've never seen you eat so slow..." he teased. Atherin didn't answer him, not because he was ignoring him, he just couldn't hear him. He didn't even know he was eating 'normally' for once.

Raven narrowed his eyes. "Dracula, I asked you a question!"

Atherin snapped out of his trance and looked over to Raven. "What was that?"

Raven rolled his eyes. "I was asking why you were eating slowly..."

Atherin glanced down at his plate. There wasn't any cake left so...how was he eating slowly? "I was eating slowly?"

Raven blinked. "Do you ever pay attention?"

"Sometimes…"

Raven rolled his eyes. "Sure..."

"I just don't pay attention to you is all," Atherin joked.

"That's for sure..." Raven smirked. Atherin mock glared at him before getting himself and Ryoko another piece of cake. There was a reason why he made three.

A few minutes later, Karl wandered into the kitchen. He stopped upon seeing everything. "Did I miss something?"

"It's Ryoko's birthday Major. We're just having cake and talking is all," Atherin answered. "Care to join us?"

Karl nodded, "Happy birthday, Ryoko."

"Thanks Major. Come pull up a chair!" she said as she cut him a piece of cake. Karl nodded and sat down beside Ibeyla and Raven. Ryoko handed him his cake before starting on hers again.

"Thank you Ryoko," Karl thanked her, starting to eat.

"You're welcome, though you should be thanking Atherin. He's the one that baked it."

Karl nodded. "Thank you then, Atherin." Atherin nodded, unable to answer due to eating. Karl ate his cake quietly. Raven and Donnie were talking amongst themselves, while Ibeyla gave Ryoko a few tips on using the Red Magnite. After a while two of the cakes had been finished off which left the last one to be munched on later. The group talked for a good while before they started to filter out to go to bed.

* * *

_**Author's Note:**_ Yay! Ryoko's celebrating her eighteenth birthday! A nice light chapter was needed after the past few chapters that we've had ^^; I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter!


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